We Band Of Buggered
by TieDyeJackson
Summary: In response to one of Tempestt's Challenges on EF - A late night conversation on a front porch sets into motion events that will turn Spike, Buffy, and the entire Buffyverse as we know it on it's head. A world where everything isn't so black and white. Eventual Spuffy but It's gonna be a bumpy ride.
1. Chapter 1

Special Thanks goes out to Tempestt on EF who not only sent out the challenge but also read over the chapter and gave me feedback and notes.

The first time Spike sees her it's when he's about to leave with Buffy to take down Angelus for good.

Sure he has heard about her from his minions (or former minions now) and has had to endure hours of The Poof describing what he'd like to do to her, stuff that even made his skin crawl.

He's sitting on the front step listening to the Slayer and her mum having it out over her calling when he hears a thump above his head and sees her shimmying down one of the posts. He snorts because she thinks she's being sneaky but then he notices they aren't along, one of Angelus little lap dogs started towards her from across the street. Coward was trying to come at Buffy through her kid sister, bloody bastard.

"Hey there, Nibblet. Little ones aren't supposed to be out after dark cause nasty things go bump in the night".

She squeaked and fell arse first onto one of the bushes but quickly jumps up a throws her tiny fists in front of her, a fighting stance for someone who had never fought. He grinned as she looked just as determined as her big sis. Then he remembers the minion, pulls out a stake and reduces him to ash before the bloke can declare that "he dies for Angelus" or some sort of other rubbish like it.

The fearful look on her fave was replaced by embarrassment and then replaced with preteen anger and spat out "And who the heck are you?".

This little thing needed to be taught a lesson, going off like she was, and to a fellow who just saved her life at that. The smile melted away to a look of steel and seriousness as he replied, "I'm one of those nasty things…" and he let his demon face come to the fore.

The little girl tilted her head to the side and just as quick as fear was shown it disappeared into a sense of wonder "You would think being the sister of the slayer I would have seen a vamp face or two but no… they think I'm a kid and can't handle all the extra stuff… but I listen … but I've snuck her books and diaries… but they were nothing like this … let me touch it …. Hi my name is Dawn … What's yours?"

Spike rolls his eyes but humors her as she touches his face and mouth, feeling the grooves and points. He shook his head and swatted her hands away "The name is Spike … and I'm a bloody vampire … how do you know I'm not going to kill you?" He demanded.

She moved her hands to his cheeks and looked him square in the eye matter-of-factly, "Cause you are a vampire and if you were going to kill me, I'd already be dead" her tone held no fear, no innocence it was cold and it was hard and it was absolute, but just as quickly as she spoke the look and tone dissolved into an ever present smile.

He couldn't help it … he liked the girl and her strange, ever changing demeanor … in all his history and travels he had never met a slayer with a sibling and now he knew why…even when sheltered away from everything … just enough of the slayer lifestyle slipped through and tainted her innocence just ever so slightly … she was a little girl who every once and a while was too old for her age.

"Well what if I was lulling you into a false sense of security and wanted you for a midnight snack? " Spike retorted. "You don't seem like that kinda guy, Spike" She smiled.

"Is that so?" he dropped his smoke on the stairs and ground it with his boot.

"What's your real name, Spike?" She sat beside him and looked up into the sky. "Why can't it be Spike?" He shot back with an incredulous look on his face. "A mom doesn't name her son Spike, that's a nickname … like my mom calls me Dawnie but my real name is Dawn" she stated not making eye contact but nodding her head like the entire world should agree with her. "William, my real name is William" Spike shrugged, giving up letting this girl lead her conversation wherever she wanted.

Dawn: Why are you on my porch?

Spike: Helping the slayer with her poof problem

Dawn: Are you talking about Angel

Spike: Yeah.

Dawn: He's an idiot.

Spike: Out of the mouths of babes

Dawn: You don't like him.

Spike: Rather have blinding syphilis than hear him speak.

Dawn: what's syphilis?

Spike: Ask your mother … better yet, ask your sister.

Dawn: OK … so how old are you anyway?

Spike: Old

Dawn: Like caveman old or my mom old?

Spike: Old

Dawn: Do you have a girlfriend?

Spike: For my entire unlife

Dawn: I hate boys

Spike: They probably don't like you much either

Dawn: why?

Spike: you talk too much.

Dawn: and you use way too much bleach there, Ken…. So do you have any kids?

Spike: Not bloody likely

Dawn: Why?

Spike: I'm really debating the "not draining you dry" clause in this moment

Dawn: Come onnnnnn…

Spike: I'm a vampire, ya bint , can't have kids.

Dawn: Didn't you ever want any?

Spike was stopped dead in his tracks from any retort by the absurd thought. Of course he had wanted kids when he was William, He had dreamed of settling down with Cecily and having an entire brood of strapping boys and little ladies. He looked at the little bit and wondered if that was what his little ones would have looked like. Would they have driven him this barmy with their incessant talk and rebellion. Mother would have had none of that and boxed their ear properly. He chuckled and realized he hadn't even thought of anything William thought about since that night with Dru in the alley a long time ago.

What the bloody hell was this little bint doing? There was no need to make him think of that prancing ponce, that educated wanker who was full of dreams and hope and bloody awful poetry. He glanced off-hand at the girl in just that moment and hated her for dredging up something he thought he had burned away a long long time ago … his humanity.

Dawn paused for a moment, noting his quietness, and they sat there in silence for a while both looking up at the same sky.

It was like she could sense something heavy as she took a deep breath and looked at him quizzically.

"Do you like fairy tales, Spike?" "I'm too old for em" he replied

"You're never too old for a good story" She sighed, "Anyway, there's this one story I like to read. It's about this man who was so sad and mad and lonely that it twisted his body and made him a beast. Now a lot of people thought he was hideous and a monster and for years he just believed he was because they said it. Then a pretty girl came along and for some reason she just believed in him and after some convincing the beast went away and at he became a hero"

"See… too old for that rubbish" he snickered and lit up another smoke.

Dawn sighed and rolled her eyes as she continued, "My point is that I never liked Angel, and I don't just mean that he sucked face with my sister, which was gross by the way, but I never felt right around him, like there was a monster wearing his face … and unfortunately for my family and Buffy's friends… I was right"

She got quiet for a moment and looked at her shoes.

"But you … and I've heard about you and read about you... it's a great thing having a group of people who forget you are there when they are researching the beastie of the week and you have access to a photocopier ….. I was just asking those questions to make sure…" She looked up at him and it hurt her a little bit that his face had fallen a bit.

Spike lowered his head, he couldn't look her in the eye, He had talked about how being the sister of the slayer had made her mature and maybe be a little bit more numb to the evils of the world, when he was one of the evils she had been exposed to.

"You've lived your whole life as a monster whose reputation is full of death and blood but you still took the time to warn me, still took the time to save me, the sister of the doofus born to kill you. You are sitting here on my porch, about to run off and save the world when you aren't even supposed to have a soul. You've killed two slayers and the books portray you as an evil soulless thing and you may have done all those things but the guy sitting on my porch, about to protect my sister and my mother and me and the entire world … He's the hero at the end of the book … if he wants to be".

No sooner had she finished her rant Spike was taken off guard my her slamming into him with a hug. She said nothing but squeezed and for a moment Spike thought she channeled a bit of her sister into it. His arms didn't move, he was frozen as she hugged and then she slipped back in the door quickly without saying another word.

He lit a smoke, took a deep, unneeded breath and looked up into the sky. And somewhere in the back of his mind wept William for the beast he had become.

Cargo planes to Brazil weren't the best way to travel but Spike did not like the feeling in his gut. It felt like brick and it was heavy.

Damn Nibblet, putting these thoughts in his head; Appealing so much to his inner ponce that he was now feeling guilty for leaving Buffy to face Angelus. It was ridiculous … ludicrous even that he would even be considering the idea of pity for the damn Slayer. Besides, he knew she could take the ponce. He had killed two of them so he knew well enough that the blonde cheerleader was the stuff Slayer legend was written about.

This one had family and friends; she had a reason for being other than the slaying, so the inevitable death wish was pushed to the back of the mind. Not that the ponce Watchers would realize that, that would go against tradition … never mind the fact that as a rookie this one had killed both Liberace-Lovin Lothos and Old Bat Face and they were both older than dirt. This slayer wasn't even that bad. Spike had watched her fight and fought her dozens of times and the amount of energy and focus were belied with her tiny frame and damned valley girl attitude.

Fighting her was like an exquisite dance of fist and fang that got him aching in all the right places. Getting lost in your opponent and flying at each other like well-oiled killing machines. She was slicked in sweat and smelled like honey and vanilla and the fire in her eyes would have burned him to ash if they were literal. Damn, thinking about this made him wonder that the only thing better than killing a slayer would be fu….

Spike jumped off his box like he had been covered in sunshine with that very thought. What the bloody buggering hell was THIS? First the little morsel makes him feel like he could be a Prince Charming and now he was thinking of Summers …. No … THE SLAYER…. Like he wanted to take her out for a sody pop and a hard shag?! More like wine her, dine her, and break her bloody neck. He was WILLIAM THE BLOODY …. SLAYER OF SLAYERS; One of The Whirlwind and the unloving death of two bloody slayers. He was the BIG BAD.

He needed to wake up Dru . Bloody tragedy that he had to knock her out because being left alone with his own thoughts was apparently dangerous. They would be in Brazil by the next sunset and then he could forget all about SunnyHELL and the Slayer and her friends and family and he and his dark princess could eat their fill of pretty girls in pretty dresses and live bloodily ever after.

He punched a shipping container until his knuckles were dripping blood to block out his thoughts until he dropped panting into the sweet oblivion of his daylight sleep.

Brazil – One Week Later ** a/n - Dialogue taken from s5 ep "Fool for Love" **

Drusilla: Why can't you kill her?

Spike: You're the one who keeps bringing her up! I haven't said a word about the bloody Slayer since we left California. She's on the other side of the planet, Dru!

Drusilla: But you're lying! I can still see her floating all around you, laughing. Why? Why won't you push her away?

Spike: But I did, pet. I did it for you. You keep punishing me. Carrying on with creatures like this. Chaos

Demon: Okay, you guys obviously have a thing going on here.

Drusilla: I have to find my pleasures, Spike. You taste like ashes.

Spike: So this is my fault now?

Chaos Demon: I didn't know she was seeing somebody. I should take off.

Spike: Yeah, why don't you do that?

Drusilla: You can't blame a girl, Spike. You're all covered with her. I look at you... all I see is the Slayer. -

Spike was mad; he was exceptionally, full-tilt, brassed off beyond all belief. He had went for a walk for about an hour and came back with his boots covered in scuffs, antler chips, brain matter and slime and thought he was feeling alright but after a smoke and twisting off a few minions heads he was just even more mad that his boots would now definitely need a good clean and polish.

He thought Dru would be all fine and good once she had her pout but she was still mad as all hell. "What can I do to make it up to my Dark Princess? " He said in a faux sad voice with a pout playing on his lips "Spikey hates it when his lady is mad at him."

She still looked cross but Spike could tell an idea had popped into her head when she smiled like the cat that ate the canary and sighs a breath of relief.

"My prince needs to beg for forgiveness on a snack of copper tea and sweet cakes." She said it so sweetly and then turned almost petulant in tone as she continued "And my dark knight must be greedy and gobble it all up until there is nothing left for Edith and Princess' forgiveness".

Spike grinned happily, she wanted him to show her that he was still a monster … her monster … and he would eat his way through a whole orphanage just to please his lady. Bring on the blood feast. Dru rang a bell and stomped her foot and stayed in place and the minions dragged his dinner in, poor shabby looking thing. Spike shrugged internally and thought this happy meal on legs looked a little dirty and worse for the wear but if it makes his Dru happy, he'd stomach it.

He slowly sunk to his knees and moved her matted hair from her neck. The little street rat's skin tasted like she hadn't washed in weeks but as soon as his teeth sunk in it was like bliss. What had Dru bloody done to this sweet morsel, this was bliss. He hadn't had anything like this since … since ... The Boxer Rebellion …

His mouth flew away from that neck like an electric current was shooting through his head and he looked into the baby blues that had just a short while ago filled him with feelings he thought dead. His gut wrenched and his head swam; the life blood that once felt so good going down felt like acid that his stomach needed to rid itself of. He stumbled back almost drunkenly and his eyes met those of his princess.

They bore into him with a fury he had never thought possible from her.

"You worm, you waste of the undead gift I have given you. You were the slayer of slayers but you are nothing and were nothing but that pitiful fool I met in that alley. If I knew that the effulgence you were so desperately seeking was the slayer I would have torn your throat out!"

"But… Dru…." Spike could barely recognize his beautiful sire. Her demon face fully brought forth in a hateful, distain-filled grimace that at his words slipped into a look of almost nerve shattering calmness.

"The pixies always told me you would eventually betray me and I would brush them away and shush them. I would tell them that my Spike would never stray like the naughty little lamb that was daddy. But Miss Edith never stopped looking at you from the corner of her eye, whispering of your Judas ways. But princess will forgive her dark knight if he just has this little snack. Please darling, for me?", She sing-songed as she danced around him, caressing and enticing him.

If it was for Dru, his love, there was nothing he would not do; Even if he had to do it with lead pressing down on his undead heart. He dropped down on his knees and surveyed the girl's fail frame slowly.

She looked so pitiful, covered in mire and barely breathing, her frame twisted delicately with one arm splayed to her side and the other twisted uncomfortably beneath her.

He got into game face and started making the decent to her carotid.

He was stopped by a hand on his cheek and he lifted his eyes to join that of the barely conscious girl. Her voice cracked and crinkled from exhaustion and dehydration.

"I knew you would come… I knew when they came for me that Buffy was probably gone … and so I prayed for you… I prayed and prayed and prayed… and you came… just like the story …I knew it" Her eyes glistened and she looked at him with such happiness and wonder in them, like he was as bright and shining as the sun brought down to earth.

He couldn't.

He wouldn't.

He suddenly felt himself flying through the air and slamming into one the pillars.

"I knew you wouldn't be able to do it. Not even to please your princess. The only one man enough was daddy. Oh, how we laughed at you, my little puppy, my lap dog. As I writhed in ecstasy under him, we laughed at you. Whispers and murmurs but after a century of disappointment, he pleased me. More than you ever could. And now, I will have to please myself due to your short comings."

Dru didn't even look at him and the pain she wrought upon him with her venomous words she just kept on advancing towards the prone girl.

"Dru … please …. If these last hundred years … if my undying love and devotion … meant even a little to you … I beg you… don't kill the girl … I can get you a million pretty dresses with a million pretty girls in them … just leave the bit be!" He shouted through glassed eyes.

She paused and turned to look at him. She shifted out of game face and raised her face to look upon him with a look of pure arrogance and impassiveness washed over her human mask. "And THAT is what makes her blood all the much sweeter…. You're nothing to me, William. You're beneath me."

Spike went back a hundred years as he fled the room and collapsed in a grungy Brazilian alley.

Drusilla grinned a Cheshire-like grin as she descended once more. She would take her leave of him after she drank her fill of this conquest.

Daddy destroyed the Slayer, of this she was sure and she would take the one that was the potential. The one that would one day aspire to what her sister was. The fairies had whispered it into her ear, sung of the girl made of the blood that would years from now become… she would snuff out the light of the almost chosen.

She was so pleased with herself she didn't see the girl move as fast as she did and couldn't stop the wood that she now felt imbed in her heart.

The chunk of wood that the girl had pulled from the crate that was her prison and held onto so tightly that it made her hand bleed and so hidden that she had almost broken her arm to conceal it tucked underneath her as she lay on the floor. The words fell from her lips without thought.

"I have no speech. No name. I live in the action of death, the blood cry, the penetrating wound. I am destruction. Absolute... Alone."

The last word ever whispered by Drusilla was not even heard by the girl as it came from a voice that was already dust.

"Slayer"

And the determined look of a killer made way for that of a half dead little girl as she slipped into the oblivion of unconsciousness. 


	2. Chapter 2

Spike was thrashing about in the alley; not knowing which way was up. The things that she said, the way that she said it, she meant to kill him, not dust him but leave him an empty husk of a man. She was going to leave if she hadn't left him already. Sure they had had their tiffs over the last hundred years but this was the be all end all of their battles. He didn't know how he could love her so much and at the same time rip her bloody throat out, dust her and make snow angels in her ashes.

It hadn't been the Angelus reference but the words that had driven the emotional stake deep into his proverbial heart. She meant ever word with the venomous glee that danced in her eyes, but here he was a fool for love, already trying to figure out a way to say his sorries.

"She doesn't deserve you, you know."

The voice made him spin like he had the devil on his heels. He shifted into game face without thought and growled by instinct but the woman that the sound issued from was just perched on a few boxes, grinning sleepily at him. He went to charge but the look of her stopped him, like she was vaguely familiar enough to make the hairs on his neck stand on end.

"What the bloody hell do you know?" He snorted in disgust as he lit up a cigarette, never taking his eyes off her.

"I know that you're a good man, Spike. I think I knew it even before you did" She replied. She looked at him as an old friend would and that unnerved him to his core.

"What's all this then?" Spike demanded as he stalked back and forth "And what business am I of yours?"

"You showed me kindness in your own way once. I guess I'm just here to repay the favor." The woman slid off the crates and stood in the way of his pacing; as he went to walk around her she stilled him as she gently placed a hand on his arm. " We knew each other in a different time, in a different life." She looked at him with such sadness and such warmth at the same time; she took a deep breath and started talking again, her eyes focused on his.

"Life is a funny thing because fate can be changed in an instant by the choices we make. A butterfly flaps it's wings in China and a hurricane devastates Texas; a man decides to takes the bus instead of driving and meets the girl of his dreams at the stop; A seemingly evil man spares an innocent because of a feeling in his gut. A million possibilities leading to a million different worlds", she pauses to see if he wants to say anything only to see a wordless grave look crossing his face.

"But for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Balance must always be maintained. Good and evil would not exist without the other. And that is why I am here … in this alley … with you."

She stopped and turned her face upwards into the moon light. A small smile danced across her face and it even caused Spike to grin at her almost serene enjoyment of the moment.

"The storm on the horizon is the most difficult we've ever faced. A war is coming the likes you have never seen. From beneath you, it devours."

"You're gonna drive a fella to drink with that rosy picture, luv", Spike said as he tried to conceal his nervousness with a chuckle and a flick of his smoke.

She smiled and laughed, "I always liked you, Spike. I wish I could have known you better."

"OY… no makin' The Big Bad out to be a poof" Spike shot back. "You seem like an alright bird, luv. I would hate to have to eat you".

"Not really my style … but I must sadly cut this short. Big and better things are coming your way Spike and you have to believe me, it will all work out in the end. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

"Why is it my bloody life is so filled with women speaking in damned riddles?", Spike half-screamed, half-sighed into the midnight sky.

"I've come bearing a gift. It may not seem like it for a really at first, but you need it to win this war" She replied

"Now just wait a tick here…. Gifts … me fighting a war … are you daft … I am the Big Bad! The Big Evil! I kill girls like you on a whim… Who do you bloody well think YOU ARE?"

"A friend" She says simply and smiles. "I've got to go. You've got a brave new world out there, Spike. I hope I get to be part of it."

"You didn't answer the sodding question, luv," Spike called at her back as she walked away.

"I'm partial to Glinda," she called back into the air.

"And this gift?" he said secondly

"The Spark." And with those words she disappeared and Spike fell to his knees.

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" No no, this isn't right this isn't right at all. Something's wrong, I'm wrong, the whole world is a place of blood and screams and death. I'm a monster, I'm Lady Macbeth covered in my victims, out damn spot, out. Driven insane, or have I already reached my imagination. Cursing my mother for not smashing in my brains when I was an infant. But then again I was an innocent. Just like the ones I killed. How many babies did Dru eat anyway? Loves the children, that one, Loves them to death. Wrong, all wrong, everything and everyone. And I sit here the most wrong of them all. Need to kiss the sun, burn to ash. God this thing itches … need to rip it out of my chest. It doesn't belong there, making a man … no making a monster feel this way… the spark …. Makes a man stop when he should and go when he mustn't. Need to burn. Covered in sin and blood and death, need to be reduced to ash and then it will stop. Dru will fix it, rip out this abomination in my body making me feel my own terrors. They are all screaming like a chorus of devils dancing at my heels…. Devil needs to be given its due but Hell may even be too good of a place for this mess. Dru will know what to do or kill me. Either way I am a free man, yes."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Dawn awakes with a start to an empty house. There are corpses strewn about the main room, some look like they are sitting at a macabre tea party with a few ceramic dolls. She searches the house and finds bottled water hidden in the same room where she was kept. She wishes she knew where Dru was so she could stake the bitch for dehydrating her simply for the hell of it. She drinks it so fast her stomach can't handle it and she throws up. She forces herself to drink more, but slower this time.

She believes in Spike but right now she fears for her life because his girlfriend is nowhere to be found, and even if she is a skank, Spike is nothing but loyal. She needs to hide or run or something. The bile rises in her throat as she realizes it's too late as she hears him crashing into the house, screaming out her name incoherently, she wonders if he's drunk.

She cowers behind a crate as he bellows for her and rushes into the room, throwing around things wildly. She realizes all her fears as she looks into those cool blue eyes and sees nothing. He rushes at her streaming incoherently in vamp face and she scrambles, grabbing at the dirt until her hands somehow find something hard and she closes her eyes and swings.

The ranting is turned to silence as crowbar combined with skull to form a wet, sickening crack and Spike fell into oblivion.

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For a moment she thought she had killed Spike but she quickly came to her senses, he was already dead. She knew… well at least hoped… that he would wake up eventually and she could talk some sense into him and maybe get home from wherever the hell this was. She found some shackles on the wall and after she had shuddered at the thought of their use she dragged his dead weight over to it and locked him in. Hopefully, he knew where the keys were and more hopefully they weren't within his reach.

Luckily there was a fruit tree in the courtyard and there was still plenty of water but after a few days the taste of the exotic fruit sickened her. He still hadn't moved and she was beginning to fear that she had somehow found a way to kill the vampire without a stake. She only slept in brief spurts and just outside the room. She'd give it a few more days then try to find the police, she'd make up something about being kidnapped by drug dealers because the truth would get her committed.

She was awoken later in the night by groaning.

"Hell, anyone get the name of that bus?" were the first words Spike had spoken in four days. Her first instinct was to run to him, hug him and rejoice that he wasn't dead; her second instinct was to resist the first.

"What the hell did you do to me?" a second question spilled from his groggy lips as he saw the Bit out of the corner of his eye.

"You were crazy and drunk. I needed to defend myself." She spoke softly making sure not to enter the room.

"You do realize the old saying a good knock upside the head isn't meant to be so bloody literal …" Spike was starting to come to and felt the damage to his head and shackles.

"Thank God, you are you. I thought you were dead, well more dead than usual so how about you tell me where the keys are and you can take me home." Dawn buzzed almost inappropriately giddy given her current situation.

"I wouldn't if I were you," Spike said with a sigh.

"What's wrong?" Dawn looked at him with a little less spring in her step.

"My sire is dead and my demon is screaming to kill you," was his reply.

His face shifted and he roared at the wilting and retreating figure as it shrunk away from the doorway.

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For the next few weeks Spike walked a fine line between lucidity and insanity and he stumbled quite frequently. He blamed Dawn for Dru's death despite her argument she wasn't even conscious at the time. Didn't matter to his demon and he raged against the shackles , she could hear the bones in his wrist crack and creak as his demon bit the air towards her. Then he would shift into human face, a look of being completely horror as he screamed of all his victims, talked to them and begged for their mercies. He would tire himself out and sleep an entire day after spending three just ranting and gnashing.

Dawn went from being fearful to indifferent after the first few days. She found some of Spike's book as spent most days reading over those. She felt like a completely different person, last month she was squealing with her friends over what it would be like to kiss boys and now she was the caretaker to a vampire who would most likely kill her if he were free.

She missed her mother and even more her sister; she hoped she was still alive. She needed to get home and she hadn't seen the outside of this place in about 40 days or so. She was running out of the amenities that the dearly departed previous owners of the house had and she was so damned sick of Brazilian fruit she wanted to scream. She was trying to relax in the bath when his wailing wore on her last nerve, she jumped up and covered herself in a towel and stomped through the house like a girl possessed. She wasn't even aware of what she was going to do until her hand cracked across his face and his ramblings ceased.

She screamed inches from his face " Shut up, Shut up, SHUT UP!"; she gasped, staring directly into his shocked look back.

"Are you done, yet? I'm goddamned preteen girl and you are even being too damned brooding for me. You are a vampire; you are controlled by a demon. You have the ultimate scape goat. You have a soul, ok…deal with it. I can't even believe Angel himself was this whiny and 'oh why me?'. Where is the man that took out two slayers? Where is this damn Big Bad you always talk about?"

She hit him, slapped him as hard as she could three times in the face until he vamped and roared.

She grabbed the broken piece of crate that was left on the floor and pressed in into his chest just enough to pinch and her face was given the Summers treatment. She looked the demon dead in the eye and her voice issued forth with a cold calculating chill and for a moment Spike swore that the Bit was channeling her sister.

"I could kill you right now or better yet I could leave you here to starve. You are only here by my grace, you only live because right now I like the guy you took over. I'm going to let you go because I need to get home and you are going to take me, but if you twitch the wrong way, I will find a way to kill you. I may not be a slayer, but my sister is and even if you kill me, I will damn well make sure you follow me through to the gates of Hell. Do we have an understanding?"

Apparently all it took was a crowbar to the head and getting scared down by a preteen to snap Spike somewhat out of his slump because he shifted back to human face and nodded almost meekly. He didn't speak unless spoken to as she undid his wrists and he quietly got dressed.

She watched him steadily as he got himself ready and motioned for him to follow her. She had been thinking a lot about his ranting previously, she knew he had a soul, had regret and no sense of direction and had a lot to say.

"I'm not sorry for knocking you out or for anything I said. I'm your friend and I'm not ever going to pull punches and I expect the same from you. I know I'm a kid, but I don't need to be treated like one"

He quietly nodded making brief eye contact to show he was listening.

"You want to make amends for all your past victims and all your bad deeds, that's fine by me. You want to make a difference, a real difference, you are gonna help Buffy," She pushed her hair behind her ear and her eyes "Or whoever the next one is going to be."

She walked through the halls in silence until they reached the door. "You've killed two of them, so if you train them they have a lot better chance."

Spike stopped her with a gently hand on the shoulder which he quickly pulled away "Why do you care, Nibblet?"

"I care about you because you saved me. I care about the slayer because it is a family thing….. Either way I want your word that, even after I grow old and die, you are gonna help our side in this battle for good and evil or whatever you want to call it."

Her features softened as she waited for his reply, a look that almost implored him to agree on the spot looked back at him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he thought on it.

It would be a good way to alleviate some of the guilt but he would be hated and reviled by his kind. Either way he'd be dead or they would and all the ones that survived long enough became fanatical ponces anyways soo ….

"You have my word, Nibblet" He said as he shook her hand in an extra symbol of agreement.

"Good, I've done a lot of thinking when babysitting you when you were crazy."

Spike took issue with the comment with a snort.

"Ok, taking care of you in your time of need … geeze … anyways. Not to equate you to Angel but with you being the only vamps like ever to have a soul, I had to approach it in that way. So the reason why Angel went so crazy when he lost his soul was because he totally locked his demon in the box and brooded for a long damn time so it made his demon like some grizzly jack-in-the-box. So I've been thinking if we give the demon what it wants, even if you do lose your soul, he'll be so used to the status quo that not much will change. You have to be in harmony." Dawn stopped walking and looked to Spike.

"Harmony with my demon. Are you naturally this daft or did you learn it in school? The demon wants violence, blood and death. It weighs on this bloody damned soul of mine like a brick!" Spike looked at her like she was crazy.

"So we give it what it wants. The violence and the death are covered by you killing demons but for the blood, you don't want to drink what Angel did, that is going against your very nature and we're on a one-way street to one pissed off demon. We give it victims but we do it by our own rules, only bad people who the world would be better off without, rapist, murderers, and child molesters." She explained it as plain as day without any judgment in her voice.

Spike paused in the street and looked through her for a moment and she could he was going over her words in her mind.

"What about the slayer?" Spike countered.

"We don't tell her" Dawn shrugged, "Fighting on the side of good sometimes you don't see the shades of grey life sometimes throws at you. If it's Buffy, we don't tell her till we think she's ready …. If it's someone else…," she paused and Spike could tell she was suppressing her emotions and failing just a little " … they will get with the program."

Spike nodded his head "You know for a young brat, you have a pretty broad perspective on life? Never would I have thought I'd be discussing the middle ground of morality with a relative of a slayer, HA!" Spike grinned and it made Dawn grin right back.

"Hey little puta, why not dump the zero and get with a real man"

Spike and Dawn both turned towards the noise to see three very rough very large looking men advancing on them.

"See Spike … the universe provides" Dawn said smirking.

Spike was hungry, he hadn't eaten since getting stuck with this damn soul, he pushed down the urge to let his face shift.

"Cover your eyes, Bit" He said in a dark voice.

"Really … ?" She said back, annoyed.

"I don't want your mum giving me another axe upside the head, close your damn eyes!" The lead man in the group cleared his throat, "You. I'm going to enjoy killing. Just give us a minute … and you, niblet …. Turn around … please"

"Ugh… fine…whatever" Dawn huffed.

"You peak and I will tan your hide, missy", Spike turned his attention back towards the men "… and now where were we … " his face shifted and he grinned.

"Dios Mio" and running feet were the only things that Dawn heard before the screams and choking, she turned around only when the sound faded. A few minutes later Spike emerged from the side alley wiping his face. He was back in human face as he put a switchblade in her palm.

"I'll take it back when we get you back home." He motioned with his head for her to follow back towards the way they had come.

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They slept the rest of the day until sunset came around. The nibblet wanted to drive the entire way but that would take way too long, he finally convinced her to take a freight flight to Dallas. That way she would get her drive and he wouldn't have to spend forever on the road.

It cost him a bloody bundle to smuggle both of them plus his car onto the flight but there was no way he was going to leave the Desoto. Hopefully the next bloke he ate would have enough money. A Nitobe Demon owned a garage in Dallas and owed him a favor, he'd wipe the slate clean if he had access to necro-tempered glass. His black paint was chipping and it would pay for itself if he was helping the white hats now.

He watched the bit pass out during the fight and watched her for some time after that. It may have been the bloody damned soul but he was fond of her. She had given him someone to take care of that cared for him back.

He'd dance into the seven circle of Hell to get his Dark Princess back but now with the soul and her parting words, he knew she had never loved him. She was just following her own nature, it was his fault that he had made a horrible vampire, hopefully he could do a little better in whatever role fate had decide was in store.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been a week since they had gotten to Dallas and Spike was again trying to make ends meet. Big city like this had a lot of people who deserved the "permanent justice" that Dawn had laid down as law but those kind of men were a certain breed of men that didn't have much in the way of a purse. The Nitobe was glad that their deal was done and had outfitted the Desoto and even threw in a full tune up and replacement of some much needed parts that had depleted anything he had left from before Brazil. His snacks provided enough for the hotel room but Spike needed gas money and had to feed the Nibblet (damn human hunger) so he was hoping this poker game he was going to would provide enough for everything to be flush. Pretty soon his handful of blood-stained bills became quite a few extra chips.

A demon, Spike couldn't identify, looked at him with fiery yellow eyes and cut horns as he folded the last of his winnings. They had all played in relative silence and the losers had slipped away one by one until only Spike, the Kaliff demon dealer/muscle and another vampire with a slippery smile remained.

"It looks like you have me at a disadvantage, sir", the man said as he looked at his cards.

"What can I say, seems luck is just on my side tonight", Spike replied.

"A vampire like me could use a fellow like you in his organization. I'm having a little problem with my employer. He seems not to have the vision I have, too stuck in his old ways. I have big plans once the rest of the crew fall in line but in order to do it, I need to bring the big man down. I fold by the way." The man's eyes never left Spike as he slid the rest of his pot towards him.

"And what's in it for me, friend?" Spike replied, "I'm not one for following the crowd or being a minion."

"A payday that makes that stack of chips chump change." He pulled out a wad of cash, took a few bills out and slid them towards the dealer, motioning for him to leave the table. The Kaliff looked at the money, shrugged and pocketed the cash as he walked away.

"By the way, what is your name?"

"The name's Spike."

The man's eyes widened and an even bigger grin graced his face.

"Well praise the dark gods, do I know how to pick 'em. Here I was looking for muscle and I stumble upon the Slayer of Slayers. Mr. Big Bad himself. Is it true that you killed the Anointed One?"

Spike decided to let this one play out so he grinned and nodded.

"Well, I'll be more damned than I already am!" The man struck his knee and laughed loudly.

"Well, King Killer, my name is Mr. Trick and I do believe I've got a deal for you, too sweet to resist!"

"Is that right?" Spike said sarcastically as he tilted his head.

"How would you like to get yourself a third notch in that big old belt?" Mr. Trick said darkly.

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Spike had not sat in a limousine in a few decades so he was enjoying it as well as drinking up the car's minibar. Trick had provided him with a modified shotgun that fired wooden laced rounds. He'd heard that wooden bullets could harm vampires but had never had any experience with them. This was a new toy and he could tell his demon was eager to experiment with such a brutal method of death. His soul would twitch a little every time the demon seemed pleased but it was starting to lessen. Dawn's little rant on balance within himself was starting to make sense. He wasn't gonna have to suck on rats and whine like a poof and for that he was grateful.

They stopped at a construction site that loomed over the car and he looked towards Trick.

"What's going on with this? Not much of an effective lair for your soon to be former boss?"

Trick rolled his eyes and rubbed his chin

"Kakistos has the girl tied to a cross and is going to sacrifice her at the stroke of 3 am. Wants to make an example of her and he gets his jollies with sacrilege."

"Kakistos…you have a screw loose trying to kill a vamp that old and powerful. I knew I liked you for a reason," Spike shot over his shoulder as he exited the limo.

Spike was getting bored; this place was probably the site of a bloody mall for all the walking he was doing. He had heard the chanting from the street and it kept getting louder and louder as Trick led him along.

"Hide behind one of the pillars until I give you a sign and then fire at anyone standing, got it?" Trick whispered. Spike nodded.

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Trick had his minions drop to the ground and Spike started picking off the men one by one. It reminded him of the fox hunts from when he was human. Anyone that was with Trick discarded their robes so that it was easy to pick them off.

In the end they had bound Kakistos but with major losses. The minions were like tissue paper to the powerful vampire but eventually they were able to bind him.

"A few hundred years of you is quite enough for me. I need to get this crew into the 21st century and away from the old ways. I am gonna run this world one day but I'm gonna see you staked out in the sun to burn first old man," Trick gloated.

The smile made way for confusion as the few minions he had left disappeared with a few well-placed shots.

Trick turned to see Spike walking towards him, holding the smoking gun.

"WHY?" Trick demanded.

"I don't really do well with people who like to double cross," Spike plainly said as he reloaded the shotgun.

"BUT YOU'RE BETRAYING ME!" Trick screamed.

"Guess I'm a big fan of irony to boot."Spike punctuated his final words to Trick with a blast that reduced him to ash.

Kakistos spat on the remaining ashes.

"Treacherous rat. I should have killed him when I first laid eyes upon him. Now you, boy, come and untie me."

He squinted at Spike as he approached.

"Bah! I smell the stink of humanity on you, abomination. When I free myself, I will liberate this world of your existence."

"Big words for a man who is bound and at my mercy right now," Spike grinned as he walked his way around the kneeling, struggling vampire. He turned and finally acknowledged the girl bound painfully to a make-shift cross. The look on her face was tiredness overridden by rage all focused towards Kakistos.

"Oy… girlie."

She nodded her head to acknowledge his words but her eyes never left the other vampire.

"You look fairly brassed off so I'm guessing he's probably had you here for a couple'a days, right?"

She nodded.

"Probably want to get a few licks in before the deed is done?"

She nodded again.

"As our friend over here pointed out, I'm a wee bit different. Vampire with a soul kinda makes me toss in with the white hats, which I hope includes you now. So if I let you down, I want a truce between us, right?"

She looked to be thinking for a moment before nodding again.

"Good then."

Spike took a deep breath and cut the slayer down. She rubbed her raw wrists, still maintaining eye contact with the almost raging vampire. Spike went against his better judgment and held out the gun.

"Looks like you could use a bit of fun."

Kakistos roared as she approached him, struggling against his bonds and trying to break free yet again.

She immediately dropped the gun and kicked him directly in the face before slowly dragging him across the construction site and throwing him down into a pit full of rebar.

He did not scream as the rebar sliced into him. He merely started to laugh insanely and he screamed with a blood-choked mouth.

"I am Legion; for we are many. You think you have won but I will emerge stronger than ever. I am beyond death. Stupid girl, don't you know that metal cannot kill that which is unkillable!"

The girl stalked silently to the truck, which was parked near the hole, and grabbed the button panel hanging from it. Kakistos guffaws were silenced as he saw the slide slowly lower into place.

"I know," said the girl as the hole started to fill with cement. She spit in his face before it disappeared below the grey sea.

"That was for my watcher."

She looked wearily towards Spike.

"You meant what you said about being one of the good guys?" she asked in a half fighting stance. Spike nodded in reply.

"Good, then we're five by five," she murmured before crumbling to the ground and slipping into unconsciousness.

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Spike placed the girl in the back of the limo before scouring the site and car and coming up quite a bit ahead for the effort. Old school indeed. He found quite a bit of cash hidden in various areas, more than enough to set him and the bit up on the drive and of course, for him afterwards.

He dropped the limo off with the Nitobe when he went to pick up the Desoto. He had no use for it and he had gotten all the repairs at a good cost so he considered it a huge tip for a job well done.

Dawn's eyes were the size of saucers when he stumbled in with the Slayer in his arms.

"She's a friend, not a snack in case that's what you're wondering bit," he said, pulling off his boots after dropping the girl on the bed.

"She's a Slayer apparently."

Dawn's face was a mask of horror as Spike looked up and she fled crying into the bathroom. Spike lost himself in thought before the lightbulb went off and he felt like a complete git.

He pushed open the door to find her uncontrollably sobbing on the toilet. She looked up at him and slammed into him as soon as he made his presence known. She soaked his shirt with her tears as he stroked her hair. He held onto her as hard as she was holding onto him.

"It may not be her you know. The other one was killed by Dru. Your sis was the best I've ever fought, 'sides she's too much of a bloody bitch to die. Only the good die young."

She chuckled a bit and held onto him tighter. Spike realized in that moment that no matter how big she talked, the bit was still a little girl. She needed to be protected and on the off chance that her sister was dead, he didn't want anything to happen to her. He had grown fond of the little pain in the arse.

"You won't leave me, will you Spike?" She looked like a drowned rat with puffy eyes and a runny nose but the look of need and assurance burned through it all. He pulled her back into his chest and kissed the top of her head.

"I'll be with you till the end of the world bit."

For those few moments, to those two people in a shitty Motel 6 bathroom, all the troubles of life seemed a world away.

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Spike left to get food and other supplies after he told Dawn to keep an eye on the unconscious girl and that they would push off in a few days. Dawn locked the door and sat on the opposite bed. This motel was awful but at least they had Nickelodeon. She was watching the toons when the girl started to stir.

Faith: Hey kid, where's the vamp?

Dawn: He went out to get us food.

Faith: And you are?

Dawn: Dawn.

Faith: I'm Faith.

Dawn: Yeah, Spike said you're a slayer.

Faith: Wanna get out of here?

Dawn: Not especially. Power Puff Girls is on.

Faith: You're not a prisoner?

Dawn: Nope.

Faith: So the whole vampire with a soul thing fighting on the good side?

Dawn: All true. He's more of a big brother than a horrible bloodsucking fiend.

Faith: Colour me surprised and how do you know all about this junk?

Dawn: Sister is a slayer in Sunnydale. That's where we are headed.

Faith: I was heading there myself before the unfortunate business here in Dallas.

Dawn: I can check with Spike if you want to tag along.

Faith: Great, cash, grass or ass … no one rides free…

Dawn: You seem kinda skanky.

With that, Dawn left an open mouthed Faith to stare while she chuckled at her cartoons.

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Spike felt weird that he was standing in line at 4am getting burgers but he couldn't stay in the car. He had too many thoughts in his head and he could sense the sun would be coming up within the next hour. It had been a full night and he was too buzzed to sleep. His thoughts were crowding his head like flies.

Did fate put him on the path to this slayer? He was worried Buffy was dead. Damn. Why the hell was he worrying about the slayer? That slayer of all people? She was tough and had been a royal pain in his side for the past year. He'd be better off without her, even as a white hat but why did that idea weigh so heavy on his unbeating heart? Why did he think the world be a little less worthwhile without that blonde little harpy in it?

He closed his eyes for a minute when his mind once again drifted back to one of their many battles. She was wild and unbridled, this was the real her. Just like him, existing in the heat of unequaled battle. One challenging the other with all they had. Quick witty barbs paired with steel-like fists.

"What do you want?" It spilled off her lips, causing every inch of him to stiffen.

"What?" he said, coming back to reality.

"I said, what do you want?" the now irritated pierced and tattooed high school dropout snarked out from behind the counter.

He got the food and rushed back to the car. He had one more stopped. He turned his music to ear-splitting heights, trying to ignore that tingle at the back of his neck (and other regions) that the thought of the slayer invoked.

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Spike tossed the food at Dawn and the clothes he picked on the other bed. He shrugged off his jacket, tossed it on the side table and plopped down beside it, still making sure the thick curtains were in place. He lit up a ciggy and breathed in deeply.

"Oooh… clothes " Dawn jumped towards the bag on the other bed.

"For you and the Slayer, took a guess at your sizes," Spike replied.

"Faith" Dawn chimed in.

"Her name is Faith, and she's coming to Sunnydale too, thought we could give her a ride" Dawn called over the shirt she was now examining.

"Bloody figures. Maybe we can run into the Pope or Mother Theresa and make us a movie," Spike said scratching his head.

"You don't know wanna know how she wants to pay you back," Dawn chuckled as she disappeared into the bathroom.

"Thanks for the clothes, mind if I bum a cigarette?" Faith quietly asked.

He tossed her the pack and his zippo.

"Need that lighter back. Older than you so don't try to nick it," Spike examined her for a minute.

"And I'm not expecting anything other than another pair of fists just in case we get into a tumble."

"Whoa, turning me down and taking care of her sister? You must have it bad for that other slayer," Faith said as she lit up the cigarette.

Spike busted a gut laughing.

"Me and the Slayer? You are definitely a few bricks short there, luv."

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Drusilla and Angelus were rutting around like loud pigs, so it was no wonder when Spike happened upon them. He sat there and watched them from the shadows tears streaming down his face. Angelus saw him out of the corner of his eye. It just made him push Drusilla's head deeper into the pillow and thrust with all his might while making sure his eyes were locked with Spike's.

"Tell me how much better I am ,Dru darling," he grunts into her ear,"Tell me how that insignificant little worm can't please you as much as I do." Just as Angelus reached his evil climax, a stake poked out the front of his chest and the slayer was showered by the dust.

Her eyes were bow locked with his as she held Dru's face into the pillow, almost smothering her as if she had the ability to breathe.

She was in a lovely evening gown with her hair put up like the women at mother's gatherings but the look on her face was pure lust mixed with just the right amount of anger.

She looked him square in the face and smiled as her hand rose. He rushes to stop her.

His hand met her wrist and the stake caught fire. It trickled down her arm and the bed caught fire too and Drusilla, forgotten on the bed, dusted as the fire touched her. The room started to burn and their eyes didn't leave each other.

The slayer bent towards him and placed a chaste kiss on his lips and then tilted her neck, offering it up towards him.

He was consumed by hunger but dared not break the skin as he kissed his way up the nape of her neck as his hands tore roughly at her petticoat and their lips met feverishly at the exact moment his fingers plunge deep into her fiery core.

And the world burns down around them.

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He awoke in a cold sweat and buried his face in the cheap hotel pillow so the only ears that heard his words were his own.

"Buffy..."


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you again to my lovely beta, the_bronze, without their steady hand and reigning in of my sometimes ridiculous flights of fancy, I'd be lost.

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They left at dusk. Spike figured that it would take a couple of days to get back to Sunnyhell but Faith had insisted that she would drive during the day so that they would arrive sometime the next evening.

Dawn had stayed up the night before at Spike's insistence. She needed to get back into school mode and Spike surprisingly took the stern parent role in the absence of Joyce. He wasn't even smoking in the car, as not to disturb her sleep or dirty her precious pink lungs. God, he was making himself sick with what a ponce he had become in such a short time.

"Since we don't want to get sick of each other and we're stuck in this damn car, wanna play a game or something?" Faith looked over him as the lights whizzed by.

"Not much for I Spy luv", Spike replied.

Faith shrugged and turned on the radio.

"The Clash … bitchin!" Faith yelled as she started to drum on the dash.

Spike glanced into the rearview mirror and noticed the comatose Dawn was in. He cranked up the radio a little louder.

"Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Faith smiled as he joined in her singing.

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"So how'd you get the soul anyway?"

"And now we come to the banter portion of the evening."

"Seriously jackass, I figure with you being a white hat and all, we're going to be throwing in together and I'm having trust issues given that you are a vampire and I am a slayer."

"Good witch went bibbidy boppity boo 'cause I'm working for the good guys and fate and blah blah blah. Don't want to bore you with the same old story luv. Mostly, the thing itches and makes me feel like shit for the things I've done. Went a bit loopy but a crowbar on the noggin from the Little Bit made me as close to right as rain as a fella like me can be."

"You were some bad news back in the day. My watcher warned me about all the older vamps and made me read up on you."

"Bloody hell, is there a Time Life series of a damned book that I should be getting royalties for?"

"Standard issue. The Aurelian line. Especially the Whirlwind was the stuff slayer nightmares are made out of. Before my watcher died, Diana, she made me read a lot of stuff when I wasn't out slaying."

"Sorry bout your watcher luv."

"Yeah, hope that son of a bitch screams for eternity, entombed in cement."

"Such cuddly thoughts. The things we did, the four of us. Me, Dru, Angelus and Darla, makes me sick to my stomach with this damned soul. We reveled in the kill. I'm no whiny ponce, I killed because I had to eat but we were savages and made death an art form. I could save the damned world a dozen times and I don't think it will make up for what I've done."

"Then why bother?"

"Made a promise to a girl."

"Geeze, for a monster you are such a softie."

"Shut your gob, strumpet."

"Great, now I want a pastry."

"I said strumpet, not strudel." He sighed.

"When can we get back to listening to music?"

"You're a complete prick. I knew I liked you for a reason."

Spike pulled the car over. He was getting tired and soon the sun would come up.

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Spike was sleeping the sleep of the dead when he felt a hand hit his arm repeatedly, jerking him out of his slumber.

"Dude, wake up. I'm bored.

"Get the Bit up then."

"I tried. She's a brick. A snoring, drooling brick."

"Bloody teenagers. Bloody slayers."

"C'mon, I'm bored and the radio doesn't have anything good on this morning."

There was a long awkward silence.

"Why didn't you kill me anyway? I'm a slayer, you're a vampire. For all intents and purposes you had every right to kill me. Why didn't you kill me?"

"Frightened at the thought of contracting syphilis from your blood?"

Faith gawped at him.

"Seriously Spike, c'mon man."

"Right then, looks like I'm not getting sleep then. No kip for this old codger."

"Roll down the windows, maybe some air will help."

"If not, me being on fire will be a great pick me up!"

"Shit, I forgot. Kinda strange that you can drive in this car."

"Necro-Glass, filters out all the little rays that make me a crispy cracker. Cost a bundle but I figured the old girl needed an upgrade. Been with me for a few years and a lot more miles so nothings too good for her."

"Drawing away from your unhealthy car obsession, my earlier question?"

"I'm a bloody white hat. Does me no good to go off half-corked, killing people on my side."

"Does it feel weird?"

"Of course it bloody does! A while back you were all just happy meals on legs, gorging myself on the blood of the innocent was a fun Friday afternoon and now I get misty at the thought of a kicked puppy! I should be going as barmy as Dru but for some reason beyond my comprehension, I've just accepted my role in the scheme of things and it feels good to be good. I feel complete in a way that I've never felt before. It feels natural and that unnerves me most of all."

"Maybe you're just getting in touch with your inner human?"

"That Princess Margaret, makes my Anne Rice routine seem regular in comparison."

"Huh?"

"He was a bit of a tool."

The rest of the morning was filled with tales of the ponce William Pratt which made way for tales of the Lehane clan and their screwed up dynamic. Neither knew why they were being so vocal or open but for some reason, the conversation flowed and for every mile that passed, so did the weight neither of them knew was on their shoulders. Spike realized he had never had an ear in Dru or anyone for that matter in over a hundred years and it felt good to know that someone could be even more than a little screwed up, being on the same path to redemption as him."

Dawn promptly woke up at the crack of noon to the music and conversation spilling out of the front seats.

"What's goin on?", Dawn said groggily, rubbing her eyes and pushing herself forward.

"We thought you were dead half pint and we were waiting for you to rise from your grave. It was touch and go whether I was gonna have to stake you." Faith looked at her in the rearview mirror.

"So not funny," Dawn deadpanned.

"Breakfast is in that bag beside you, though it may be a little cold there, Van Winkle."

Dawn started stuffing her face with a breakfast burrito and as she listened to Spike and Faith go back and forth, she decided being kidnapped wasn't that bad after all.

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As soon as the car pulled into the driveway of 1630 Revello Drive, the front door opened and a very ragged and frantic Joyce stepped out on the porch.

"DAWN? BUFFY?", came a dear soaked shout.

"MOM!" Dawn flew out of the car like it was on fire and as if on cue, her mother flew into the front yard.

They collapsed in a heap, hugging and sobbing on the lawn. Spike was taken off kilter when they were joined by an equally disheveled Watcher. They seemed oblivious to all around them and Joyce's frailty was belied as she carried her daughter into the house with the librarian in tow.

"Guess we should take a smoke break?" Spike looked towards Faith who simply shrugged.

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Spike and Faith sat on the porch for the better part of an hour. Neither had anywhere else to go and were discussing their options when the front door creaked open. Giles emerged holding a bottle of scotch and three glasses. Without a word he gave them both a glass and filled them, following with his.

"To the Summers women, who are the most remarkable trio I have ever had the pleasure to have met".

They all raised their glasses and took a drink, still staying quiet.

Spike was lost in his own thoughts about the toast when he was surprised by the large hand thrust out into his line of vision. He looked up to see that Giles was attached to it. He stood and accepted a hearty handshake. Spike finally allowed his glance to meet the librarian's and he was disarmed at the look in the man's eye.

"Words cannot express the gratitude I need to extend to you at this moment, William. You saved my life and you've brought one the girls I've come to think of as my daughter home to her mother. I cannot trust you because all that you have done and my history with vampires meaning well; but understand that although you do not have my trust, you are starting to earn my respect ."

Spike was taken back by the strong words and could merely nod in reply as the British in both men took hold.

Giles then turned to Faith, clearing his throat and polishing his glasses.

"And you must be the Slayer Dawn spoke of. I shall get in contact with the Council shortly. It seems they lost track of you shortly after you were called."

Faith looked at the ground, suppressing the tears she felt building and nodded.

"We ran into Kokistos and my Watcher was killed. I fled but he caught up with me in Texas."

Giles face took on a more drawn look.

"I'm dreadfully sorry for your loss. I will bring this to the attention of the Council and we will draw up a plan of action. On that note, to Kendra and the loss of a friend and fighter."

They all raised their glasses again.

"Where is Buffy?", Spike interjected and almost immediately Giles was lost in thought. He drained his glass, poured himself another and swallowed that as well.

"She left. Joyce went to her room the night you left and found her room empty with a goodbye letter. Willow and Xander couldn't accept it and they along with Oz and Cordelia went off in search of her. Joyce was left alone without her daughters so I stayed here to keep watch and pick up the pieces."

"I was wondering why you were here. I didn't want to say anything but it's none of my business but I can smell her on you." Spike said.

"Yes well. Left alone with our grief and tears, we somehow turned to each other. I loved the girls as much as a father could and now it seems I've fallen hopelessly in love with their mother."

Spike could sense the discomfort from the man as they broached the topic. He had that stiff upper lip and changed the subject quickly.

"So they've seen hide nor hair of the slayer on their travels?"

"Sadly no. Though the last time I spoke with Willow, she hoped that her plan to 'make everything right again' would work."

Spike sighed only inwardly. His heart had been heavy with thoughts of her and now that he knew she was definitely not dead, it made him feel completely relieved.

"Well," Spike said

"We're here now and I'm hazarding a guess that you know of my new status as part of the home team. You've got a slayer and now a master vampire to help with all your Hellmouth troubles."

"Extraordinary. I was wondering if it was just one of Dawn's flights of fancy. Were you cursed? Did you seek it out?"

"Of course I didn't seek it out! You think I'm daft? Thing feels like broken glass with every thought of my former life. As absurd as it sounds, I was approached by a witch who said I was a big part of the balance of good and evil and I needed to fight on the right side. No asking or anything , just thrust the bloody thing in me and Bob's your uncle."

"Remarkable. Maybe because it wasn't a curse, you were able to deal with it better than certain parties. I'm intrigued as to how functional and adaptable you are being with all this."

"Color me confused as well. No bloody clue why I'm so fine with the whole situation." Spike sighed as he lit up a smoke.

"While Joyce has been otherwise occupied with her reunion with her youngest child, I've been instructed to offer you and Faith a place to stay as long as you need it. Faith can have the couch and you may take the cot in the basement if you wish. We can never repay you for what you both have done for us today."

"Cool, show me the way to the pull out. Haven't slept in a day and I'm ready to hit the sleepy trail", Faith called as she stretched.

"Seems like we are taking advantage of your hospitality Watcher." Spike followed the duo inside.

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Spike was awoken in the early morning hours by a creak in the basement steps. He was still tired but he opened an eye to see Joyce standing a short way away from him.

"Would you mind standing up, Spike?" She said almost timidly.

"Sorry, of course was there anything you needed?" Spike scrambled in his tired state and stood.

He was almost knocked back to the floor as she crashed into him, sobbing.

He was uncomfortably mortified as she crushed him in a hug and buried her face in his shoulder.

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for bringing my baby back home. I had no idea where she was and she just spent the night telling me how good you've been to her and how you rescued her and just thank you! Thank you, thank you my dear boy."

She covered his face in kisses as he tried to get a word in edge ways. Finally, she seemed to regain her senses as she straightened her bathrobe and took a deep breath.

"Now that that is out of the way, would you like coffee or cocoa or something?" she smiled warmly at him.

"That depends. You got those little marshmallows?" Spike replied.

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Things seemed to settle into a routine. The gallery wasn't making any money with Joyce staying at home and the school year was just a few short weeks away. Still the spectre of Buffy hung over them all. They knew she was alive but it felt like a part of them all was stuck in some limbo with her gone. Even Faith could feel the hole in the world around everyone without Buffy in their lives.

Spike hid it from the others but he was just as affected as the rest of them.

The council was sending another Watcher for Faith but there was no telling when he would arrive so Giles filled the role in his stead.

Giles was astounded by what the presence of the enemy within their ranks, who wasn't just on the outside looking in but taking an active part did for Faith's training. She actually read anything that Giles put before her and absorbed her training like a sponge. She would spar with Spike for hours upon hours and the Watcher would just sit back, astounded at the speed and brutality and energy they both put into the exercise.

Faith would always make the Watcher cringe every time she would say that training just made her hungry and horny but she was having the time of her life. Getting to kick ass as the Slayer and spending time with them all made her feel like part of something bigger. Joyce had taken a special interest in her and made sure to include her and Spike in everything they did. She would later tell Spike that beyond that tough exterior, Faith was a sweet little bird with a broken wing that only needed some positive attention to heal and fly.

Giles insisted that Faith enroll at Sunnydale High and continue her education. After quite a battle between them, Faith finally relented.

Spike loved the fight in this one. She wasn't as focused and homed in as Buffy but then again, he hadn't met anyone like Buffy in all his years. Her mum and little sis were no exception. As strong-headed as they were compassionate, they found a way into his heart. He talked with Giles over scotch for hours on end and consented to the watcher keeping a diary of their conversations. The old librarian was obsessed with the amount of knowledge of the darker side of things that he possessed and it wiled away the hours. Joyce was as much a mum to him as his own biological mother had been and he enjoyed her company over hot cocoa on many a night. Unlife was pretty good.

But every once and a while, when no one was looking, he would slip upstairs and into Buffy's room. Her smell surrounded him and his yearning enveloped him and he wondered if this was what love felt like with a soul.


	5. Chapter 5

Spike and Faith had found a place to call their own above Joyce's gallery. It was just gathering dust and Joyce had insisted they live rent free as long as Faith went to school and they both came to dinner at least three times a week. She said family never leaves family out in the cold. Luckily, Faith wasn't that hoity toity so a few trips to the dump and a few trips to curbs later, they had outfitted the place fairly well. Faith decided after hearing one of Spike's more 'vivid' dreams, she was five by five with him playing the big brother. It was kind of nice having two men in her life that wanted nothing but the best for her and nothing in return.

Spike and Faith settled into a routine when it came to patrolling. After school, she would find her way down to the basement and let Spike in through the sewer access. They would go to the library and Spike would read a little bit while Faith would train with Giles. Then Spike would take over with hand to hand combat with Giles' running commentary. Giles was actually astounded at the number of fighting styles Spike was well verse in and the amount of knowledge he possessed. He was also really happy that Faith could unleash her full strength in the battles with Spike as opposed to the bruises Buffy had inflicted upon him being forgetful about his regular human status. This girl had spirit but she was no Buffy. He had grown quite fond of the her and now that he was with Joyce, his affection for the Faith had grown to that of a true father in her absence. None the less Faith was in charge, currently and he made sure she had a thorough education.

After training and dinner, they were promptly off to patrol the town a few times before returning home in the wee hours of the morning and watching TV before a few hours of shut eye (for Faith at least). Then it was rinse and repeat all week. Luckily there were no training sessions on weekends. It was mostly just going on patrol and heading to the Bronze. These were the times that the big brother routine grated on Faith because for some reason Spike didn't understand that she had an itch that only the bad boys could scratch. If they were too bad, Spike would eat them and that put the kibosh on any coital activities. It was pretty quiet but they decided to give Sunnydale another once over before heading back home. There was a nest of new vampire that were no match for them. There was on particularly nasty demon amongst them. It dislocated Spike's shoulder and he was complained that it wouldn't be fun or easy to dispose of a creature this size with an injury like his. He was mildly happy that after getting run through by a sword, it melted but he was less enthused when hit by the accompanying stench of it's remains.

The slayer and vampire were making their way home when they ran into a familiar face.

"Snyder", Faith cringed.

"That's Principal Snyder to you , you miscreant", Snyder oozed more than he spoke.

"I see that you are keeping company in line with your delinquent personality, Ms. Lehane. My god, you smell disgusting."

"Said the man that bathed in Hai Karate this morning", Spike growled.

"Charming. What trouble are you getting into, Lehane? Hopefully something that will get you expelled."

Spike had, had enough of the little man with a big man complex. He decided to give him a little Saturday night jitter. He grabbed the man by his dollar store suit and lifted him to face level.

"What do you say, Faith? Little Bit of ultra violence?"

"Kubrick… nice."

Spike turned around like the cat that ate the canary.

"Have I told you today how awesome you are?"

"You might have mentioned it once or twice." Faith shrugged and laughed.

"I'll have you up on charges, you rebel without a clue", Snyder squirmed.

Spike rolled his eyes and shifted his face as he looked back at the man who went from a face full of ignorance to one of fear,

"I'll have you know, vampire that I'm….I'm… protected by the Mayor. I could get you in good with him. He's always looking for people attuned to his needs. And I'll tell him that this new slayer is with the program."

"Wait…what?" Faith's face went stark white and she stared at the man.

"Let him down, Spike."

Spike dropped him and the rat scurried back.

"You're gonna catch me up on this program quick", Faith said."Whether you like it or not."

Snyder spilled out everything he knew in very fast order until Faith turned away in disgust.

Spike usually let the bad people he ate slip into death with little pain. He was killing them anyway so why bother making it hurt. He went out of his way to do the opposite with Snyder. The bugger deserved every strangled painful scream.

"Better get over to the Watcher, looks like we got a problem", he said darkly.

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It turned out that the Honorable Mayor Richard Wilkins III wasn't really the III or honorable. The more they studied that night, the more they resolved that he had to be stopped. They did not know what this Ascension he had planned was but it was bad news. At about a century old, the pacts he must have made were disarming.

By the time the sun came up the next day, Spike, Faith and Giles had the schematics of the office. They figured with vampires as bodyguards that they had to hit him during the day. Spike grinned at the fact that the necro-glass on the Desoto would come in handy.

They made their way to city hall and it was relatively empty. They were in luck. They saw a man emerge from the Mayor's office looking quite disturbed. The three of them quietly rushed him into a broom closet.

"If you scream, I will kill you. If you are a part of Wilkins' plan, I will kill you."

Faith looked at the man as he quivered under Giles' hand and shook his head quickly.

"We are going to let you talk, but so help me God if you try to alert him that we are here, I will shove a stake so far into your heart it will pop out your back, are we clear?"

The man nodded profusely again.

"I'm the Deputy Mayor, Allan Finch. I signed on thinking that this was a tight ship. I was never prepared for the magic, death and pure evil that the man in there is."

"Is there anyone else here?"

"No, No. The Mayor normally does some paperwork and goes to Church."

"Surprised he doesn't burst into bloody flames", Spike interjected but was silenced by by one look from Faith.

"You're gonna get out of here and forget we were ever hear and if I even see you taking a box of girl scout cookies without paying the proper price, I will find you and I will kill you, got it?"

"What…what do you think you're gonna do?"

"We're going to clean up City Hall", Giles replied softly as he pushed the man out the door.

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Spike kicked open the door to the Mayor's office but the Mayor just looked up from his putting green.

"Now that isn't polite young man. Even for a vampire, you come in like a gentleman." He smiled sternly.

Spike shook his head in disbelief, walked into the hallway and gently wrapped on the door.

"Better. Never hurts to have good manners."

He shook Spike's hand and quickly went for his hand sanitizer.

Spike sat and went to light up a smoke, under a scornful gaze from the Mayor. He put the cigarette back in the pack.

"Hear you're looking for muscle. Your man Snyder sputtered it out right before I killed him. Can't stand a disloyal man."

"Oh dear. Snyder was a worm but he was a useful worm. It's going to be such a dickens to replace him but I guess that's the way the cookie crumbles."

"Sure. So I'm here to apply. I got quite the résumé and I'm lookin' to get in on the ground floor."

"Oh and quite a résumé you have, Mr Spike. You caused me quite a bit of trouble there last year. There are only so many roving gangs on PCP one city can have. And from what my sources tell me, you are chums with the new slayer. What's her name? Oh Faith! Seems to be a little bit of a troublemaker too."

"Yeah, but she's pretty easily persuaded one way or the other. Give her a hug, make nice and she'll do anything for ya. Like a puppy that one. I might be persuaded to bring her around to our way of thinking if it becomes our way of thinking. If we are clear on my meaning?"

"Wayward girls need a guiding hand. Otherwise they can fall in with the wrong crowd and that leads to smoking and parties. Girl just needs a strong father figure. Would you like a drink, young man. Are you of age?"

Both Spike and the Mayor laughed as the Mayor opened his liquor cabinet.

"Scotch alright? I like mine neat but not too much or it can be one heck of a doozy", The Mayor grinned.

Spike saw the weapons and dark totems that hung in the cabinet and smiled. "I think that's just what I'm looking for."

In a flash, Spike was across the room, knocking the Mayor to the floor. He slapped a piece of tape over his mouth and binded his hands.

Giles and Faith burst through the door just as the Mayor was being thrown into his chair.

Faith looked furious as she pushed Spike roughly out of the way and spun the Mayor around. His eyes were as round as saucers as he stared up at Faith in shock. Faith had grabbed a dagger that caught her eye and was now holding it to his throat.

"You wanna be my daddy?", she hissed in his face.

"I already got a father figure and he isn't going to like this."

Her arm moved with such ferocity that it nearly decapitated the Mayor and with another stroke it split his heart in two.

She got up, still dripping with blood, and coldly said,

"This doggy, needs her walk."

She glanced at Giles without making eye contact as the tears welled in her eyes

"I'm sorry", she choked out and then ran for the door.

Giles frowned as realization hit Spike yet once again and he felt like garbage. Why the hell could he not keep his bloody trap shut?

"Go get her. I'll clean up here", was all he could muster before returning his eyes to the floor.

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Spike cut up the Mayor into little bitty pieces and then poured holy water over the mess. After that, he doused the entire office in the contents of the mayor's liquor cabinet. Bloody waste of good spirits but it's in the name of Christmas and puppies and all that rot. He made sure the room was encased in flames before he made his way back to the car.

Spike knew Faith had gone to Revello Drive so he got into his car and drove there, cursing himself the entire way. He came in from the garage to see Giles sitting at the table with his tea.

"She's upstairs with the women of the house", Giles called out over his paper.

He silently made his way up the stairs to Joyce's room where he heard noises. He tapped gently on the door. The face that greeted him was that of a teary eyed, runny nosed Bit.

She kicked him in the shin hard, so hard he yelped at the pain

"You big jerk face", she said as she went back to the bed.

He pushed the door open to see Joyce running her fingers through Faith's hair as Dawn rubbed her back. She was looking away from him but Joyce saw him standing in the doorway and shook her head, motioning for him to leave.

"I know I bollocksed it all up, luv. I said some things to that old evil that were hurtful but you gotta know, I'd walk through fire before I see you hurt. Giles and Joyce and the Bit, they all got each other and sure they look out for us but you're the one who always had my back. You're my family, Faith, the sister I never had. We may have our knock ups but in the end I love you like you're my blood. I don't know if that means much but I'll go for a while and I hope you'll forgive an old fool who never watches his tongue. I'm sorry."

Spike sighed and then made his way back to his car without another word.

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Spike flicked his lighter as he swallowed down another shot of the top shelf stuff. He even had his own booth far off in the back. Seemed Willy had a bit more respect for a man that actually paid for his tab and had expensive tastes. A few of the tougher demons had walked by thinking that they could kick him out, since he was such a do-gooder nowadays, but after they had a meeting of the minds (with his table repeatedly) they wandered off with their tails between their legs. He was preparing to get up to get another bottle when a tiny man, who was definitely not human with a funny little hat and horrendous taste in clothes, placed one before him.

"Here's to the man that ended the scourge of Mayor Wilkins. Consider it a gift between friends. My name is Whistler and you are Spike."

Spike immediately pushed the bottle back towards him.

"Sod Off."

"I'm just a guy looking to talk here so I thought I would bring a peace offering."

"Last time I had a conversation with someone who seemed to know a lot more about me than myself, I ended up with a soul shoved up my arse, Turah."

"If you are as eloquent as that with everyone, no wonder the slayer is pissed two ways from Sunday at you. Speaking of that shiny little spark you have, ever wondered why you aren't pulling an Angel and hitting an 11 on the brood meter?"

"Bloody hell, you might as well take a seat. What is it now? Is my soul destined to go out in a blaze of glory in a shining example of the hero I've become? Will ballads be sung of my sacrifice?"

"Well, now that you mention it Captain Sarcastic...wait... No.

**Remember what you're here for Whistler old buddy**

"I'm here to tell you about your soul. Mainly the fact that it was yours to begin with."

"William? That old ponce is grabbing me by the short hairs everytime I have my nasty thoughts! At least I haven't picked up a damn pen!"

"Naw! I mean you! As in Spike, you dolt."

"I know this sounds kind of half-off coming from me, but quick meta-physiology for ya, we don't naturally come with souls."

"It was a different time and a different you. I can't say much, even for a history that probably won't ever exist, but you sought out your soul."

"Why the hell would I do THAT?!"

"A girl", Whistler started eating the blooming onion that Spike had left forgotten on the table.

"One of the blonde cheerleading, ass-kicking variety."

"Love's bitch even in different worlds. Marvelous", Spike groaned.

"Don't sell it short my friend. It may not feel like it now, but it's all gonna work out. Well, we are hoping it works out at least. Given that everything has gone off the rails, even The Powers and myself are flying blind on what's gonna happen. I'm keeping my ear to the ground and all I hear is, from beneath you it devours"."

"Bloody ominous, innit?"

"Hey, I'm just a poor little demon trying to make things right with the world here. Don't blame the messenger. I'm just here to help you on your merry little way. When you wake up, I think a trip to the family home is in order. I'll be seeing you around, Spike", Whistler said as he started to walk away.

"If you think I'm taking a trip to Eng…" Spike got up a little too quickly and after swallowing down a few bottles of top shelf stuff, curtains came in the form of the floor advancing fast towards his face. Then silence.

He awoke to find a card in his pocket.

'Family Home in LA.'

Guess it was time for a field trip.

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Spike got to LA shortly after dusk. He approached the door, which looked a little worse for wear, and pounded on it.

"Who the hell are you?", came a voice from behind the door.

"Name's Bert. I'm here to see about your chimney", Spike deadpanned and then sighed.

A swift kick of the boot brought down the door and Spike rushed in with his sword drawn. He started punching and stabbing his way through the throng that came barreling towards him in the hallway.

"Bloody demons masquerading as humans. If I had a sodding nickel for every time I snuffed out one of you buggers, I'd have….a whole bunch of bloody nickels."

He made quick work of the demons and propped the door back in place to avoid suspicious eyes. He decided to look around. There had to be a reason why that bloke wanted him here. He finally found a side room with an ominous black pool in the center of it.

"Of course, it's a gateway to another dimension. Who shall we get to go, they say! I know, I know Spike! He'll do it, he's daft enough! Who the hell am I talking to? Evil was a hell of a lot easier than this", Spike huffed as he dropped down into the pool.

Seemed like a mineshaft or a mill or something. Place smelled of demons, unwashed humans and hopelessness. Spike quietly made his way towards the sound of the whip.

"Who are you?"

"I am nobody."

"Who are you?"

"I am nobody."

Spike watched from a distance, watching them as they got whipped as he counted the number of guards. His eyes quickly glanced over the slaves and he did a double take. He was seeing things, was that the slayer looking all dirty and disheveled. Was he day dreaming again? He rubbed his eyes and looked again, realizing it was her as the slave master finally made his way to her.

"Who are you?"

Spike coughed and then lit up a smoke as all eyes turned to him.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Don't mean to interrupt. My name is Spike, oh and that girl right there is the Slayer, and this right here...", Spike tossed his sword towards Buffy who caught it.

"Is a sword", Spike grinned.

The slave master was about to yell out when the tip of the sword touched his throat without piercing it. He dropped his whip and raised his hand and was about to beg for mercy.

"What are you doing here, Spike?", Buffy said annoyed.

"Cath and the kids wanted to get away from the city for a while. Forget about the hustle and bustle ... What the bloody hell Slayer? I'm here to rescue you!"

"Like I believe that! You are probably working with them."

"I cannot believe your gaul Slayer. Notice the bloody sword in your hand put there seconds ago by me! Why would I be working with them and giving you a SWORD!", Spike seethed.

The slave master, still shaking, was looking back and forth between each of them as the spoke. He slowly started to back up until Buffy noticed him out of the corner of her eye and impaled him quickly. As he dropped, the fighting started. Even the slaves were attacking their demon guards.

"Whatever Spike. The truce is still in effect. Help me get these people out of here." Buffy pushed by him as she engaged another batch of guards. Spike just threw up his hands and started snapping necks.

Buffy got one of the other girls to start leading the others out.

Spike and Buffy were back to back fighting the guards as one unit and Spike breathed a sigh of relief. She was fine and just as much of a bitch as ever. Fighting by her side felt right and he settled into it like they had been doing it for centuries.

She didn't even look at him, as they pulled the last of the slaves out of the pit, and it disappeared. She said nothing as he pulled up the car and only gave one word directions to her place. She went up the stairs, bringing the girl with her, and came down about an hour later with him still waiting there.

She threw her suitcase in the back seat and told him to drive. She was silent the entire way out of LA. When they were finally on the outskirts, she told him to pull over and jumped out of the car. He ran after her and abruptly she turned around and punched him hard in the face.

"Now we find out what your game is, Spike", she sneered as she thrust another fist into his face.


	6. Chapter 6

"Bloody hell, woman. I think you broke my nose", Spike shouted as he snapped it back into place.

"You're up to something Spike." Buffy belted him directly in the face again.

"So talk!"

"That's it, you little bitch. I drag my ass across California to rescue yours, I help you take down the bad guy and this is how I get repaid?! Well, if it's a fight you want." Spike stopped to fire his own fist into her gut

"You and me, we are gonna have some fun."

The insults started to fly with the punches.

"There's the big Evil we all know and hate. I thought you were supposed to get out of California. Awww, did your little undead hoe leave you for another bigger", she intentionally let her eyes roll down his body "  
>badder vampire?", she continued.<p>

"Game has changed since you pulled your Houdini, luv. Dru is dust and I've got a soul. Figure as long as I don't get myself involved with one of those weepy hormonal slayer types, I'm liable to keep it to keep it."

The punches got a little bit heavier after that.

"LIAR!"

"BITCH!"

"You are nothing but an evil soulless demon."

"Said the girl who got her heart broken and abandoned everyone."

"You SHUT UP!"

"FINE BY ME!"

All verbal pleasantries were dropped and it was all out war.

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After an hour of back and forth, both were bloodied and far from feeling well. The blows were coming a little slower and a little less heavy as both their extended staminas had reached their limits.

One well-placed uppercut from Spike and Buffy flew backwards and broke a cactus. Then she started to cry, heaving sobbing cries that echoed through the empty expanse of highway.

"Just make it quick. I'm surprised I lasted this long. I always figured it was going to be you." She looked up at him defiantly, almost belying the tears that now streamed down her face.

"Not that I'm pleasantly surprised you'd thought I would be your end, luv." He extended his hand to show he wanted to help her up.

"But like I've been saying like a bloody broken record, we're on the same side now."

She looked at him like he grew a third head and then cautiously extended her own arm and grabbed his. He pulled her up and instinctively wrapped his arm around her to help her to the car. Buffy flinched but slowly relaxed before he started moving.

He opened the back door. When he got there and eased her onto her stomach, she looked at him quizzically.

"What the hell are you doing?" Buffy huffed.

"I don't think you want to spend the ride home with an arse full of cactus, luv?"

Buffy went to protest but her words quickly turned to a resigned sigh,

"You tell anyone even remotely about this, I will stake you."

"Where are your tweezers?"

Buffy grabbed them and he went to work.

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They were back on the road before the sun came up. Spike was thankful Joyce had a garage. Buffy sat with her arms crossed, contemplating something and every once and a while glancing quickly in Spike's direction. He was happy with the quiet and just hummed along to the radio.

As soon as the Desoto was in the garage, Faith flew outside towards it, surprising both Spike, emerging from the car and Buffy still sitting in it.

"Where the hell have you been, you bleached jerk?", Faith said as she pushed him against the car, she pushed him a second time before pulling him into a hug.

A few thoughts streamed through Buffy's head all at once.

*Who the hell is that?*

*What is she doing in my house?*

*Why is she hugging Spike?*

And with that last thought came an uneasy feeling in the pit of her gut.

*Crazy skank in the leather pants making moves on my vamp.*

*Where did that come from … Spike's not my vamp … ick.*

She came out of her own thoughts and sighed.

Faith pulled away from the hug to a confused yet relieved Spike.

"I thought you had gone all crazy and jumped into the sun when I couldn't find you, but then Dawn reminded me of your promise. For a split second there I was concerned; Even though you are a pain in the ass that always puts his foot in his mouth, you're my pain in the ass."

She hugged him again and noticed the petite blonde sitting in his passenger's side.

She recognized her from the pictures around the house.

She hugged him again to get close to his ear.

"Holy shit, you found Buffy? And man, she looks smaller in person and so totally jealous. Bitchin!"

Faith kissed Spike on the cheek and before he could protest she spoke again.

"Yep, definitely jealous." And with that she ran back inside.

Buffy emerged from the car and it made Spike smile a bit.

"The new hoe making nice with my family?", she growled.

"She's the new slayer, found her in Dallas. Lilee a sister to me, in case you were wonderin an' all", Spike said.

Buffy rolled her eyes.

"Like I would even care."

Spike opened the door for her and he followed close behind.

"Spike, you've got to stop running off like that, you almost made her a blubbery mess for the second time in two …"

Giles looked up from his paper and his words caught in his throat. His eyes blurred with tears just as Buffy's did and silently they smashed into each other with a hug. Spike stepped back a bit and got some blood out of the fridge. Who was he to interrupt this moment in time?

"Spike! Did you say Spike was home?" Dawn rushed around the corner only to be greeted by the sight of her sister finally home; she smashed herself into the mix.

Joyce followed through the threshold a few minutes later and was stopped dead in her tracks.

Giles and Dawn parted and Buffy was left standing at her mother with the saddest eyes ever.

"Mommy, I'm so so sorry", she blubbered.

All Joyce did was open her arms. She cringed a little at the slayer strength involved in the hug but then kissed her daughters head.

"You're home now, both my girls are. And that's all that matters."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"So what have I missed?", Buffy chirped as everyone sat in the living room with a cup of cocoa.

"I was kidnapped and Spike brought me home", Dawn said matter-of-factly.

"Though it was his hoe bag evil girlfriend that kidnapped me in the first place."

"Dawn!", Joyce spat "Language!"

"Sorry Mom."

"Though, to be fair, Spike has actually proven himself quite useful in assisting us in battle and training", Giles said.

"Ugh, anything not related to Captain Bleachy", Buffy said as Spike snorted in amusement.

Giles and Joyce looked at each other nervously and fumbled with their cups.

"You mean besides your mom and your watcher knocking boots, Blondie?", Faith said as she emerged from the kitchen, punctuating the question by biting into her apple.

You could have heard a pin drop. Both Joyce and Giles had turned a lovely shade of crimson and the look of sheer horror that crossed Buffy's face was as if she had seen the depths of Hell firsthand.

Giles coughed.

"Yes, umm, your mother and I have grown quite close since the disappearance of you and your sister. Thank you for your more than thorough introduction, Faith." He paused for a moment to give Faith a disapproving glance. "We are now living together Buffy, and I would very much appreciate your support on this. I love your mother dearly and I adore you girls as much as if you were my own."

Buffy misted up a bit at Giles words and simply nodded.

"I'm happy for you guys. Just not the sex stuff. That's kinda an 11 on the ick scale of 1-10 in my book."

"Thank you, Buffy. At least for the first part", Joyce said as she wrapped an arm around Giles.

Buffy smiled at the thought of her father figure becoming her almost actual father when the sight of something missing jogged her memory.

"Where are Willow, Xander, Oz, and Cordelia?", she questioned. "Hardly a welcome home without my other Scoobies to give me hugs and smooches."

Giles started polishing his glasses profusely as he looked at Buffy, "They left to, um, find you. They've been gone a few months now. Poor Willow blamed herself for not being a better witch and ensouling Angel fast enough. They all piled into Oz's van and left town to locate you."

Buffy's eye blurred as she held her hands to her mouth. She covered her face and ran up the stairs.

Spike just resisted the urge to run after her. He couldn't bear to see her cry.

"Right then, seems to me this is a family matter, Faith and I best be getting back home."

He grabbed her by the collar and escaped back to his car.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Back at the loft, Faith was popping the top off a cold beer. She passed it to Spike and returned with a second one.

"Looks like you need this a hell of a lot more than me, old friend." She plopped onto the couch and looked over at him sitting in his chair.

"Want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what? Brought the bloody slayer back home cause it needed to be done. Now we can relax a little and be better prepared for the big bads coming down the pipe?"

Spike snorted as he took a hearty swallow.

"You are forgetting the fact that we live together and I'm getting to know you." Faith sat up with her arms on her knees.

"Plus, these walls are too thin to have any secrets."

Spike let what she'd just said process and then looked over at the now smiling Faith.

"You shut it and shut it good there, Missy! Eavesdropping on a bloke's dreams, that's just dirty, is what that is!"

"Don't worry about it, Romeo. We're 5 by 5 and I am to keep it that way. Now what do you say we get good and drunk?"

"Best thing I've heard all day, luv."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Spike and Faith's lovely little march down the path to unconsciousness was interrupted by the slamming open of the front door. Behind it was a very irritated looking slayer.

"Night falls and she appears", Spike slurred out and Faith chuckled a bit.

Spike was more than slashed when Buffy tossed him into the wall. "What are you doing here, Spike? Five Words or less..."

"This is my house...bitch", Spike counted on his fingers.

"You know what I mean; I don't trust you even if you did bring my sister back. You've got an angle here and I want you and your trailer trash barbie slayer out of my damn town."

Buffy turned her head at the whistle and spun around from the impact of Faith's fist.

"See, now you've pissed her off" Spike grinned.

Love the girl or not, he was sick of her shit and needed every last inch of her ass kicked.

Spike sat back and had a beer. Sure he'd have to replace some of their stuff but this was going to be one hell of a show.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

As they battled back and forth, smashing a lamp here and a table there, Spike could tell Faith had the upper hand. Sure, Buffy had the tenure, but while Buffy had taken four plus months off, Faith had been vigorously training with Buffy's watcher and a master vamp helping her along the way. Plus she had really pissed Faith off by attacking him and calling her trailer trash.

"What the hell is your problem, B? You come home, you get no shit from the people you abandoned, welcomed back with open arms and you take issue with the guy that pulled your ass outta the flames to begin with? Pretty harsh."

"You have no right to judge me. You don't know me."

"You're right, maybe I should boff Spike over there and stand idly by while friends are murdered. Then I'll finally sack up only to run away and abandon everyone else because I'm in so much emotional pain. Sounds like a mile in your shoes pretty close, B."

Buffy lost it at that point and was full out trying to kill Faith, instead of incapacitating her. Faith took the lapse in clarity to her advantage and slammed her into a beam then crouched with her knee on Buffy's neck.

Buffy's face was going a beet color as Faith seethed above

"With a twist of my knee, I could break your neck, slayer strength or not."

"So next time you go off halfcocked because you've had a bad goddamned day, you better take off those holier than thou blinders and see who your allies are." Faith stood and crossed her arms above the coughing Buffy.

"Here endeth the lesson. Now get the hell out of our house."

Buffy limped off, holding her throat without making eye contact.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Giles was polishing off a glass of scotch when a fairly bloody and bruised Buffy came through the door.

He leapt to her aid and eased her onto the couch beside his chair.

"What happened, Buffy?", he gasped.

"I knew you were out of practice but what kind of demon gave you that much of a thrashing?"

"Faith", Buffy spat. "She got mad at me for roughing up Spike to find out his motives. I don't trust him."

"I see", Giles said as he took another sip of his scotch. "Not to play devil's advocate here but what your saying is you barged into their home of one of our allies and threatened him to the point that one of our other allies was provoked enough to attack?"

"That is so not fair. You know Spike as well as I do, he's only working an angle."

"I for one never thought I would be an advocate for William the Bloody and I would have considered you quite mad at the mere mention of it not half a year ago, but here we are. He brought your sister home and he has a soul, Buffy. He's been fighting alongside us in your absence and the same goes for Faith."

"But what if he loses the soul, like…"

"Like Angelus?"

Tears dripped off Buffy's nose as she wept quietly, trying to say something. Giles remained quiet allowing her to gather herself.

"He was Angel."

"What?

"When I killed him, he was Angel. Willow's spell was successful but it came too late. The portal was already opened and the only way to close it again was his blood. So I killed him. The man I loved. To save the world."

"Though I don't sympathize with the man himself, I regret that you've had to go through such an ordeal. Angelus killed a woman that I loved, conspired to kill a slayer under my care and tortured me mercilessly for the sheer joy if it. There will be no tears spilt on my part for his death but for your pain."

Giles took a drink and looked across at his slayer, his daughter and smiled softly to soften the blow of his words.

"Spike has tried to kill us before, yes, but he always had a fair sense of play in vampire terms. As far as his soul, I don't believe it was a curse, like the one on Angel. He seems to be fairly at harmony with both the soul and demon and, through my conversations with him, have come to understand that it was bestowed upon him so that he could be one of the leaders in the fight for good, and despite his vehement protests, seems to be more of a gift than a curse. "

"Doesn't mean I have to like it", Buffy pouted.

Giles had to laugh. No matter how mature she could be when it came to fighting and resolving, within her chest, beat the heart of a teen girl with all the petulance that it entails. Though these moments were trying for Giles, he enjoyed them greatly. She was still her even after all of the heartbreak and trials of the last few years, she had not yet lost herself to her role as the slayer.

He felt moved for a moment and he felt compelled to grab hold of her and give her a hug. And he had, had quite enough scotch that the British in him was tapered down enough to actually do it. Buffy was a bit shocked at first but soon melted into the arms of her Watcher.

They both stood there enjoying the moment for just a little while longer.

"Can I call you dad?"

"It's a little early in the relationshi…"

"Whatever you say, dad."

"You're going to have to apologise to Faith… and Spike"

"C'mon. Really, really?!"

"Respect your elders?"

"Fine … still doesn't mean I have to like it."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Monday found Buffy sitting in Sunnydale High's front office. When her mother had called to fight with that rat, Snyder, it seemed that he had disappeared. The new principal had insisted that Buffy come in for a talk. So she sat there listening to the ticking of the clock. Her boredom was interrupted by the swinging of the door.

She inwardly groaned as Faith made her way through the open door.

"Please have a seat Miss Lehane. The principal will see both you and Miss Summers shortly", the cheery secretary stated and motioned for Faith to sit down.

Faith picked up the chair and moved it a few spaces away from Buffy before she plopped herself down.

"Faith…hey…", Buffy whispered.

"Yeah?"

"I wanted to apologise for my behavior the other day. I was incredibly rude and I want to thank you for looking out for my family and my duties while I was gone."

"Giles made you apologise, didn't he?"

"Uhhh…. No?"

"Look B, I don't like you and you don't like me. Thing is, we are in the same line of work and the people I love are all connected to you. We got off on the wrong foot. We'll start with a clean slate so as long as you don't step on my toes and I don't step on yours, we are five by five, ya dug."

"Totally dug"

"You also gotta give Spike a little slack. He's trying hard to walk that thin white line. He may have done a lot of bad shit but the past is in the easy. I met him with a soul and you know what, I don't even think he'd be that bad a guy without. He's the closest thing to family I got and I will break every damn bone in your body if you hurt him."

"Wha…"

"The principal will see you both now", Miss Pep chimed in, interrupting the flow of the slayers' conversation.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Faith and Buffy made their way into the office and saw three men standing quietly in the room. All eyes were on them as they closed the door.

"Whatever it is, I didn't do it." Faith threw up her hands.

One of the men chuckled and Faith recognized him from the broom closet.

"Well… I guess I did if it involves you." Faith sat down.

"What you did was the single best thing for this town." Mayor Finch grabbed and shook Faith's hand.

"Color me… huh?" Buffy chimed in, confused.

"She, the librarian and a vampire killed the evil that has gripped this town for a century", the old man with long white hair and pipe replied.

Both slayers jumped up and went into fighting stances to which the Finch immediately motioned for them to sit down.

"Don't worry, you are among friends here. We know all about vampires, demons and the lot. We were trying to figure out a way of defeating Wilkins and flushing out the corrupt system and you opened the door", Finch said nodding his head at Faith.

"The problem is, the public as a whole is not ready for the knowledge that the people in this room and a few other possess. I want to put the Sun back in Sunnydale and I figured this was the best way to get what I want."

"What do you mean?" the slayers said in unison.

A bald man who looked big enough to be a linebacker cleared his throat.

"My name is John Jones. I will be the new principal going forward. You will be allowed certain freedoms. If you need to leave the school grounds, given any specific concerns, you may do so at your leisure. If you need to reschedule testing or miss a class or two, we will not have a problem as long as your grades are kept up."

The white haired man with the pipe also cleared his throat.

"My name is Edgar Ness. I am the new sheriff. If my people encounter anything out of the ordinary, they've been instructed to get into contact with me and I will get into contact with you. Our files, all of them, will be at your disposal. If you need information, you will have my personal line to get a hold of me." He handed them both a card and a beeper.

"The city will gladly keep you on a salary as *cough* junior members of City Hall." The Mayor grinned at them and all three men went silent and looked towards the slayers.

"So, we'll be Sunnydale's one stop shop for Spooky 911?", Buffy pondered aloud.

"That's about the long and short of it",Ness nodded.

Faith looked at Buffy and both of them couldn't help but smile.

"Welcome to the brand new, squeaky clean City Hall, ladies",Finch said as he clapped his hands together.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Faith and Buffy seemed like they didn't have a care in the world as they raced towards Revello Drive. They were laughing and high fiving and astounded at their luck. Not only did they have someone else that could shoulder the burden of being a slayer but now it wasn't a secret. Well it was and it wasn't. It just meant no more sneaking around school and bad grades. The late nights and the excuses were a thing of the past.

Everyone jumped as they burst through the front door. Giles had to laugh as both of them tried to blurt out, what had transpired that day, at once. He was a little bit leery of the motives of the men but told himself that time would tell. They all had enough on their plates currently. They wouldn't worry about that bridge until they had to cross it. Joyce just sat their quietly, adoring her daughters and found that she easily included Faith in that group. She was a sweet girl even though she was a bit rough around the edges. All she needed was a little support and she seemed to be thriving with them there.

Giles beamed as he spoke.

"Well, it looks like we have two things to celebrate today."

Both girls stopped their incessant giggling and looked towards the watcher.

"As you know, your mother and I aren't getting any younger and we very much enjoy each other's company…"

"Rupert," Joyce scolded. "You're sucking all the fun outta this. Now we don't mean to steal your girl's thunder but…"

"Oh my God! This better so be what I think it is or I am so going to cry. See I'm starting already," Buffy interrupted excitedly.

Joyce merely nodded and as she joined Buffy in her tears she presented her hand with a very expensive, very shiny addition.

Buffy slammed into her mother with a squeal, Faith gave Giles a shot in the arm and nodded approvingly.

"Way to go , G-Man."

"Why thank you, Faith. And never call me that again."

Giles then joined Buffy and Joyce in a hug.

"Well, as is tradition, I shall continue to assault my pocketbook by taking you all out to dinner. We can pick up Dawn when she's finished school and pick up Spike at your apartment."

"Actually, I think I'll just swing by the apartment and Spike and I can patrol tonight. You guys enjoy your night out."

"Are you sure, sweetie?" Joyce looked concerned. "You and Spike are our family too."

Buffy's groan was silenced by a slight elbow from Joyce and a motherly cough.

"Thanks Mrs. S but I think you guys all deserve a night off and we're ok to pick up the slack."

"Why thank you, Faith. Just remember, our home is yours and tell that to Spike as well."

Buffy was silenced as Joyce tossed her the mom glare directly after saying the comment.

"Have a good night, guy and gals," Faith said as she closed the door behind her.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Quentin Travers was roused from his brandy induced sleep by a sound outside his office. The place had been locked up hours ago and he had stayed behind to catch on some much overdue paperwork. He had the cook bring him up his supper a few hours ago and his after dinner glass had gotten the better of him. The noise was probably one of the young watchers in training, working hard to please his superiors.

"Might as well give the chap a thrill at meeting the man in charge", Travers harrumphed to himself.

He followed the halls as the noise got louder and louder and he finally recognized it as humming accompanied by what sounded like splashing.

He opened up the doors to the wing the sound was emanating from and was overcome by the smell of gas.

"Young man, what are you doing there?"

The humming man stopped, placed the gas can at his side and turned.

The last thing Travers saw as he shuffled off this mortal coil was his own entrails, liberated by the dark man's knife.

The dark man picked up the gasoline and resumed his song.

Bringing in the sheaves  
>Bringing in the sheaves<br>We shall come rejoicing  
>Bringing in the sheaves<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

Spike thanked the Powers for his vampire reflexes as he dodged the spray from the carotid artery of a particularly nasty demon. It was more of a spurt actually. Then, his sharpened blade separated the head from the shoulders in one swoop.

"So the Watcher popped the question to mum?"

"Yeah", Faith said as she shoved her sword through decapitated demon's buddy.

"It was really sweet."

"Good on him."

Spike whistled to his friends in the bushes. The scavengers were really happy that he was their friend. They quickly disappeared into the shadows with the two corpses and heads. Faith continued.

"They wanted to take us to dinner but it's a family shindig and patrol needed to be done."

"I'll go by the gallery tomorrow to give my hurrahs to mum while you, bit, and the slayer are in school."

"Speaking of the blonde pain in the ass, you are so lucky I care about you enough to restrain myself. Her little Miss Priss act gets my blood up and she desperately needs to have a foot up the ass."

"She's a lot like you, full of pep and rebellion."

"You shut up, she's been spoon-fed her whole life. I'm never going to like her."

"As long as you can work with her, it's not a problem. I'm not a big fan of the Whelp or the Witch and I'm going to have to stomach them both. You can grin and take your medicine, just like I have to."

"I still say you should have left her in LA. We were doing fine without her. You are a cheesy mess over that girl."

"You can't pick who you love, pet. That's one thing I can be sure of in the centuries I've lived through."

"Yeah." Faith glanced at him quickly before looking away.

"You're five by five with that observation."

Wesley Wyndam-Pryce was a disappointment. He was used to hearing it from Father and he would surely hear it again. Late again, he knew he should have gotten a better alarm clock. The old brass beast belonged to his grandfather and it worked … well … quite frankly like clockwork but for some reason today, it did not wake him. He was dreadfully late and would probably get yet another reprimand.

He wondered if Father made the other watchers treat him so crassly. His father was always making reference to him holding onto his Mother's apron strings, even now, embarrassing him in front of his peers and friends. He didn't know why Father pushed him so. He had left behind the thoughts of trying to make him tougher ages ago but refused to believe the most obvious of answers. His father just didn't like him.

He was pulled from his rather bothersome thoughts by the smiling face of a priest driving away from headquarters. Must have been a chap new to the parish, maybe translating some text or the other. The way he smiled though, chilled Wesley to his core, the man behind those eyes didn't seem Godly at all, in fact quite the opposite. He would have to make an inquiry.

He pulled up by the front doors and made a mad grab for his satchel. One of his instructors had just walked in so maybe he wouldn't catch any flack for sleeping in at all. Huzzah, it was finally going to be his day.

The force of the blast threw him and the car door about twenty feet. The glass from the window blew up in his face and a rather large chunk sliced into his neck. The only sounds he could hear were a high whine and the beat of his own heart. His nose filled with the smell of burning wood and flesh.

The smell brought him back to his grandfather's funeral. His grandfather had his best suit on and he had screamed as they had rolled him into the furnace. He couldn't understand why they were putting Grandfather and his best suit into the fire. That smell, that had made him vomit and wet himself as he screamed for them to save his grandfather. Father had hit him and called him a disappointment to the family name. And that smell was to be his last smell.

He grabbed at his throat trying to staunch the pulsing blood as the sound of his heartbeat grew fainter and fainter. Pretty soon his eyes started to close and his face lowered to the cool grass. He looked across the lawn to the body of Lydia who worked in archives. Her lifeless eyes stared back at him with a glassy complacency. She had been such a lovely girl; pity he hadn't worked up the nerve to speak with her when they were both living.

It had been a few days since the announcement of Giles and Joyce's upcoming nuptials and now he insisted on including Buffy in the training. Of course, she was the slayer and had to be included but Faith didn't like the messing with the dynamic. Buffy didn't seem all that pleased either, she didn't seem to like sharing either.

Faith was playing the good girl and holding her tongue but every time Buffy sighed and crossed her arms anytime Spike was giving them both tips, her fist got a little tighter. She knew she made peace but if Faith was a lesser person, her fist would have a good talk with her blonde bimbo nose, repeatedly.

The change of scenery was nice. Instead of training in the library, they were given access to the gym at the police station. The few officers that actually used it got used to them working out there after having a talk with Ness. They weren't that bad on the eyes either. Every once in a while if the boys were watching, she'd grunt a little less roughly and a lot more sensually until they were puddles on the floor. Then Spike would spoil the fun by giving them a look that made them run away.

Today both of her boys were gone but so were all the other men. It was less than fun, though she was having quite a time sparring with Buffy. Both of them were wearing boxing gloves but were going a little bit harder than they should. The empty gym filled with the sounds of empty gabs and feminine grunts.

"So, how are the plans going for the wedding?" Faith inquired as she landed another right hook to Buffy's gut.

"They are planning for a small summer evening wedding. It's still nice out and that way Grateful Dead can attend. Speaking of Spike, why don't I have that thorn in my side tonight?", Buffy replied returning a left.

"He's out trying to find out what's going on with the underground. Says it's too quiet for his liking." She landed another one to Buffy's gut and followed up with a shot to the chin that shook even her teeth.

"And you should be grateful for the guy. You could learn a lot from him and up your game."

"Yeah... really wonder how he takes the sting out of hair bleach and the best way to apply black nail polish evenly", Buffy huffed smarmily as she swept Faith's legs out from under her.

Faith got up in her face, both heavily soaked in sweat and frustration.

"Back off, he's ten times the fighter you or I will ever be. You just got lucky not to be notch number three and quite frankly I think the team would have been a lot better off if that would have went down."

"Oh, you mean my family? That team? Why not try to be me a little harder and maybe, just maybe you can escape that little piece of trailer trash spreading her legs for anyone with five bucks and a bitchin truck."

"Wanna go again, B? I seemed to remember you running with your busted ass tail between your legs back to your surrogate watcher slash father cause your real one can't be bothered. Pretty Cold Papa but then again, you tend to make the men that try to love you soulless."

"Bring it…. Better yet…" Buffy punctuated her pause with a crack on her bare fist against Faith's face.

Faith shook off the punch and the gloves were both figuratively and literally off. All their own frustrations became embodied by the other and both were now very evenly matched. Faith would get the upper hand and then Buffy, back and forth until both were slick with sweat and blood. They both seemed to devolve into cave women slugging it out mindlessly.

Eventually they became clenched on the now bloody boxing mat.

"You let go of my hair."

"Not until you let go of my hair."

The exchange made Faith stop and then lean back on the mat busting a gut, doubling over in laughter. Buffy huffed and looked at her oddly.

"What the hell is up with you?"

Faith could barely breathe let alone talk.

"Two battle-honed… warriors… Imbued with a power…. centuries old….. and we get in a cat fight."

Buffy thought about it and then she started to sputter and despite herself soon joined Faith on the mat.

They cried. They gasped. And despite themselves, they hugged as they laughed.

Buffy realized how empty she had felt without Willow, and Faith realized that girlfriends weren't that bad after living with Spike for a while.

"I'll try to take it easier on Spike."

"Thanks."

"Geeze, you got it bad."

Faith wiped blood from her lip with the back of her hand as she got up.

"I do"

She dropped down and started walking towards the locker room and her warm shower that would hopefully ease her beat up muscles. She stopped before she pushed open the door and continued.

"Unfortunately, he's in love with someone else."

Wesley woke up with the feeling that he was drowning. There was not enough air on earth that could make him feel like he was breathing. The air that rushed into his lungs burned his throat. He tore at the bandages and felt the thick stitches that crossed his neck. He coughed into his hand and as he pulled it back, he saw the gobs of black blood staring back at him from his palm.

"Easy now young man. You've had quite the day and you've been out for a few hours." A strong pair of hands pushed him down on the bed.

"Now relax and try not to pop any stitching. It seems some glass has cut you to ribbons."

"What happened", Wesley croaked out, each word grating in his throat like sandpaper.

"The estate is in ruins, the council and most of it's elders dead. All that's left of us is a lucky handful and we are trying to make sense of this nefarious act."

"Father?"

"Sorry to have to tell you this but your father wasn't one of the lucky ones." The older watcher's face looked tired and drawn but he squeezed Wesley's shoulder none the less.

Wesley forced his way up.

"What can I do to help?", he grated out as he started pulling the tubes from his arms.

"Son, you lost a lot of blood. You are lucky to be alive. You need to heal", the older man insisted.

He was soon silenced with a look from the young man that would have frozen Hell.

"What can I do to help?" Wesley repeated gruffly.

"We need to go to Sunnydale when you feel up to it. The others are cautious to use the phone given the massive breach we've had and I need to bring Rupert Giles back here to see if we can salvage what's left of the Council. He's been the most successful of us with his charge and we need him to prepare ourselves with what yet may come."

"And myself?"

"Promoted, effective immediately to full Watcher status with two slayers none the less. We feel you are more than prepared."

"And expendable…"

"Perish the thought from your head, lad."

"I've had enough of being head boy. The pleases and the thank yous have got me nothing more in life than pushed around. I'll do as you ask, but you need to do something for me in return", Wesley spoke calmly as he pulled on clothes that had been put aside for him, his own clothing from this morning likely blood-soaked if not shredded.

"What do you need?"

"Information. I need to find a man of God with the Devil's eyes."

It seems all the excitement in the house had finally caught up to Dawn. She was one sick Summers. Mom had a big exhibition coming up and Giles (Dad YAY!) had some pressing matters at the school regarding the Dewey decimal system or whatever librarians kept busy with. Normally she loved to have the house to herself but she was too sick for ice cream or dancing around in her pajamas so that kinda sucked the fun out of the whole thing. That and the fact that her mother kept on calling and fretting like the mother hen she was, apologizing over and over for the fact that she had to be away and making sure that all the doors were still locked and no strangers approached the door with candy or something.

She jumped when she heard the door connected to the garage slam, she was shivering a little bit extra as she shimmied her way further under the blankets and started to whimper.

"That door didn't seem locked when I came through it, Bit…".

She peaked her head slighty out from under the covers and sighed a phlegmy sigh of relief at the leather clad vampire tapping his toes and looking down at her disapprovingly.

"Thank God, Spike. You scared me half to death! I was afraid it was a monster or something dangerous!"

"Hey, I take offense to that remark. I am dangerous! Once Dru and me went to this orphanage …"

Dawn looked at him grumpily and he stopped mid-sentence.

"Right then… not for a young lady's ears to her and me being a good vamp now should not be telling these tales."

He plopped down on the couch beside her.

"So how you feeling, Bit? Need anything?"

She lifted herself up and smiled so widely that Spike had to smile back. She buried herself under the blanket again and put her head on his lap.

"Much better now … and don't move a muscle"

"No snot on the leather. What are we watching today" Spike said as he grabbed the remote.

Dawn snatched the remote without even looking at him.

He chuckled and started to stroke her hair as they watched MTV.

Even organizing the card catalogue, Giles had a smile on his face and a skip in his step. His extended bachelorhood was about to come to an end and he would have the ready-made family of his dreams. He had thought his chance of happiness had died with Jenny but Joyce had forced him to crawl out of the bottle he had gone into since. He had started taking care of her because he felt partly responsible for the events with Buffy but pretty soon concern had grown into comfort and that comfort had become love. He was absolutely positively on cloud nine.

Never mind his two bickering charges as, joy of joys, they both had a spare period and decided to both spend it in the library.

The two were like oil and water but even Giles had to say that they seemed to have an improvement in their relationship in the last day or so, perhaps worked out some of their issues. Excellent, he made a note to let them train alone more frequently if this was the result.

They were arguing over a boy of all things. Apparently this Scott Hope was quite a catch and they were both looking to court the boy. Poor lad wouldn't be able to handle either of them so he felt a tinge of pity. He also wanted to scare him a little, maybe give him a taste of Ripper so he'd run away and leave his girl alone.

He paused for a moment to look at them and just filtered out their voices. They were his girls, along with Dawn. A few years ago he had dreaded coming to America. The Yanks manners were atrocious at best and they couldn't even get football right but he couldn't imagine having the same life as he had had before Sunnydale. This was his home and these people were his family.

He even loved the vampire, though he would never admit it. Spike had proven himself an asset and had changed the things so much for the better that he couldn't begrudge him his admiration. Never in a million years would he have considered a vampire a true ally and friend, especially after Angelus. His face soured visibly and he could taste bile in his mouth even at the thought of his name. He would have to console himself with the fact that the bastard was burning forever in some version of Hell.

Joyce was able to finalize everything and close up a little early. It was getting dark and Rupert had called her saying that Spike was not at his apartment as Buffy, Faith and he were going on patrol and would swing by the house to check up on Dawn. Joyce told him not to bother as she was getting away early and would be home soon.

There was hardly any traffic as she cruised home listening to one of Rupert's classical music. She had developed a taste for it during the summer as he used it to calm her when she would get worked up. She would make sure Dawn was safe in bed and then take a long warm bath with a glass of wine and some Mozart and have an early night.

She was a little surprised when she pulled into the garage alongside the Desoto. She knew Spike had a key and started to worry a little why he was there before nightfall. She scurried through the door and heard the TV going and as she rounded the corner she slowed.

There was Spike fast asleep, his chest rising and falling in an unneeded but ingrained rhythm with Dawn snoring away contently in his lap, snuggled close to him.

She covered her mouth to stop from chuckling and tip toed her way to shut the television off. She climbed the stairs quietly and paged Buffy to tell her to invite Faith and Spike was already there. Tomorrow was Saturday and they could all have a family breakfast, she was sure they even had a bit of blood left in the fridge for Spike.

The bath was relaxing and the wine was more effective than any sleeping pill as she slipped into her cool covers and let herself drift off peacefully.

Buffy felt sore as Hell as they walked through the side door. Giles was a little bit cross that he couldn't park in the garage because of the damned Desoto and grumbled as he waved his goodbyes with the back of his hand as he climbed the stairs to his and Mom's room.

Buffy and Faith ate as Faith recalled something about slaying and food and sex that just made Buffy blush. Buffy told Faith she could crash in Dawn's room and Faith nodded and disappeared with a glass of orange juice.

Buffy stopped herself by the couch. She looked down at her sister in the arms of the vampire that had tried to kill her a year ago and felt strangely at ease with it. Sure she busted his balls and rightly so but lately he seemed to be ok, for Spike anyways.

He looked peaceful but it was kind of weird that his always perfectly gelled hair looked messy. She thoughtlessly reached up to brush it out of the way.

Spike softly inhaled at the touch in his slumber.

"Buffy"

Buffy flew like a ninja up the stairs and didn't breathe until she leaned against the inside of her closed door.

But the fluttery feeling in her gut didn't seem to dissipate at all.

Xander and Willow didn't know where they were walking to, they just knew they needed to walk.

Holding onto each other's hands neither of them noticed how cold the other was.

"I feel bad for locking them in the hotel room." Willow didn't bother looking at him as she spoke.

"I know, but they wouldn't understand. It's better this way."

Willow nodded knowing that her silence was an agreement with his words.

"Hey Wills"

"Yeah"

"You remember kindergarten?"

"Best friends forever"

"Yeah, the first day of kindergarten, you cried because you broke the yellow crayon and you were too afraid to tell anyone."

"This is way worse than a broken Crayola"

"I don't blame you for any of it."

"You should"

"I don't."

"You wouldn't, doofus."

Xander laughed and Willow smiled before they both went quiet again and kept up their walk to nowhere.

"I wish we could have said goodbye to Buffy and Giles."

"Me too."

"It's coming soon, I can feel it."

"I know."

"There isn't enough time to say the things I wanted to say to you."

"You don't have to."

"I love you, Will. I always have and I always will."

"I love you too, Xander."

Willow started to cry and Xander cupped her cheek.

"I'm so sorry for what I've done."

"Come on. You know Buffy will fix it. She always cleans up our messes."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

"Here it comes, I'm sorry"

"I was there for the crayon, I'm glad I'm here with you in the end."

Willow started to sniffle again; Xander silenced her with his lips.

The wrapped their arms around each other as the sun rose and they disappeared into a single flame.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Notes:**

Thanks as always to that wonderful breath of fresh air , my beta the_bronze. This one is a little short but I found it too dark and I was happy to leave any scenes involving our current main cast in limbo because they are just the right amount of happy right now to shield them from the Whedoning which they will endure shortly,

_Xander sat quietly as he watched Willow preparing the spell. He scanned the faces of Cordy and Oz and saw the concern that mirrored his own. This seemed like a very intense spell, even to a layman such as himself. He watched her chanting as she drew the pentagram and the places that they would each stand. Willow was sure this was the way to making everything right and he was going to support her. They had been out of Sunnydale for months and could find neither hide nor hair of Buffy._

_That was when Willow had decided that they needed some magical intervention to solve their little problem. The only thing that would bring Buffy back was Angel and since their Angel had become Angelus and died at the end of Buffy's sword, the only other one available had to be from somewhere else; A different plane; A different reality._

_Penning those doors would be some serious business so for weeks, she had poured over the internet whenever she good. Ms. Calendar had turned her to the online underground techno-pagan network and she was like a woman possessed._

_Everyone was cautious but trusting with Willow's insistence so here they all were, standing in the pentagram. Willow was starting to cry as she led the fawn into the center of the circle. They needed a sacrifice and as the main caster, Willow was the one who had to perform it. She closed her eyes as she cut the deer's throat, the blood filling the bowl. She whimpered as she spoke the incantations and painted their faces one at a time with the necessary markings._

_They joined hands and that was where it all went wrong. Willow insisted on continuing with the spell and said if the circle was broken there would be dire consequences. Even though they were in the middle of the Nevada desert, they could see their own breath and felt a cold beyond this earth slicing in and out of them. Willow's eyes were now completely black and the words spilled out of her mouth unconsciously. This was like trying to ensoul Angelus times ten! Xander could barely breathe and the space above them started to split. A blinding light shone through the crack. The larger the crack grew, the more intense the chanting from Willow became. Blood dripped down from her nose and the look on her face was almost animalistic in its ferocity. Then the crack exploded and they were left in darkness._

_They quietly made their way back to the hotel in silence. Something had changed but the incantation failed to do what they had set out to do. They went back to their seedy motel rooms, scared by what they had all done._

_-_

_Xander had to laugh at the oxymoron that the thought that now crossed his mind. He had woken up dead. His soul was in there still. At least he could feel the ebbing of his conscience but it was still there; Along with a hunger. That feeling, plus the fact that he could not find his pulse, pretty much made the glowing arrows point to the word "VAMPIRE."_

_He brushed a hair away from Cordy's face and resisted the urge to drink, that was almost driving him mad. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and she shifted. He sighed to himself and made his way out the door, locking it behind him. Imagine his surprise when he turned to see Willow doing the exact same thing with the door beside._

_She looked up at him, tears in his eyes, and he reached for her hand. They joined together, no words needed to be spoken. He squeezed hard and she squeezed back. They had messed with something that they didn't understand or even comprehend._

_And now they were going to die._

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Heinrich Joseph Nest was enraged. One moment he was basking in the glory of killing a Slayer and the machine coming online, the next he was trapped in this damned cave. It reminded him of that pit beneath the school he was once trapped in. And to feel the death of his beloved Willow and Xander not once but twice in one day was just more than he could stomach. Whoever did this was going to pay with every last inch of their life. He was so distracted turning rocks into powder that the dark man walked up behind him unnoticed.

"Now she warned me you'd be a sight to behold but goddamn you are one ugly son of a bitch! Looks like you fell outta the tallest ugly tree, hit every branch, and then climbed up for a second round!", the dark man laughed.

Nest contemplated ripping out his jugular but as he moved forward to the still man, he felt no fear only a dark power that made his centuries immersed in it seem like child's play.

"Did you bring me here, Priest?"

"The name is Caleb and no no, my creepy faced friend. The glory that has brought you to this earth has also brought my salvation with it. I was called to prepare, for it was already foretold that this glorious reckoning shall rise up from the darkest pits."

"I have no time for riddles; you have the power, return me to my home and give me leave of this wretched place."

"You listen to me, Batty and I'll show you a kingdom that makes yours look like Disneyland. The streets will run red with blood, you shall wear a crown of death and she will reign over all."

"All this babbling! I should just eat you and be done with it."

Caleb grinned and turned his face upwards, his eyes shifting and his ears listening to a voice that only he could hear. He smiled at Nest and pulled a blade from his inside pocket. He watched soundlessly as he carved into his own flesh. Black blood spilled out from the wound."

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood. Ye have no life in you. This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."

Nest was compelled to drink and as he poured the dark fluid into his mouth, he felt a rush of pure evil, of pure power rushing into his very core. If his heart could've beat, it would've sped so fast that it could've burst as he melted to his knees holding onto the arm as if his very existence depended on it.

The Dark Man grinned as his eyes fell onto the shivering, scared vampire that sat cowering as far away from the two as possible.

He might come in handy.

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Oz wakes up to hammering on the door, He can barely open his eyes when he notices Willow is not beside him. His heart races and he jumps towards the door flinging it open to a livid Cordelia.

"Is Xander in here with you? Please say he is? Oh God, I have the most horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach! Please, is he here? Say He Is !?"

"He's not, and neither is Willow." Oz speaks softly belying his motion of grabbing his coat and pulling her towards the door "We have to find them."

+++++

They spent the whole day retracing their steps. No one had seen them or recognised their faces in the photos they showed around. They stopped to choke down some food that felt like it was never going to settle and they continued into the night. They scanned the roads when an odd look appeared on Oz's face.

"Stop the car, NOW!" he shouted as Cordelia immediately ran out into the desert.

"What the Hell, Oz!" Cordelia had a rough day and was in no mood for this. None the less, she shot out of the van after him.

She found him spinning around, tearing his hair out by the roots.

"What's going on?" Cordelia inquired, her words bringing Oz to a dead stop.

"I smell her," he said, making no eye contact as his eyes fixed on a spot on the ground. He reached into the dirt and pulled out what looked like a ring. Cordy recognized it as one he had bought Willow at some stop outside of New Mexico. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw the pendant she brought Xander.  
>She sunk to her knees as well.<p>

It felt like an eternity passed and she was swallowed up by the darkness.

She was brought out of it by Oz pulling her up. "We have to go. We can't stop or we'll never make it."

"Where?"

"Buffy" he replied simply.

She forced her sorrow down into her gut and her legs felt like concrete as she followed. They made it back to the van and Oz flew like a bat out of hell in the direction of Sunnydale.

A few miles later he slammed on the brakes, swerving to avoid the men standing in the middle of the road.

Cordelia's blood turned to eyes as she saw two things she thought were long dead.

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Wesley swallowed the scotch as if it were water. The older watcher had fallen asleep and seemed at a peace that made Wesley's stomach roll.

How could the old bastard sleep at a time like this?

He cursed the thought of it as he looked out from the private plane into the black inky sea below. He'd taken to wearing guns now. One rested like a thorn in his side and the other rested hidden at his back. He would never be caught unaware again. His father had always mocked him for being a mother's boy. Even after her death, his father would throw around the words even though he knew it wounded the boy. He said he needed to be a man.

The scotch now tasted like bile as it spilled down his throat.

He had become the man in a few short hours. When the blast cut his throat and blew up everything he had ever strived for.

His father's praise.  
>His career as a watcher.<br>The praise of his peers.  
>All of them forgotten in an instant.<p>

He was as dead inside as the vampires he once strove to defeat. The only difference was that his heart was still beating. He would fulfill his duty. He would teach the slayers his own way. They would help him accomplish what he had set out to do.

He had read the file. The defrocked priest who became a serial killer; they had never been able to prove anything and they knew of two confirmed but the list of unconfirmed victims stretched out for pages. The devil that dressed as a man of God and had a silver tongue.

The man in the folder that sat on his lap would die. He would put the bullet in that bastard's heart himself. Then he would be able to sleep as peacefully as the old watcher...

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Caleb still liked to hum the hymns of his old congregation. She had reached out to him one day as he stood at the pulpit, preaching his empty words of peace and salvation. She was the one that whispered the glories of sin and debauchery in his ear. Oh what fun it was to imagine the wicked things he would do to those old ladies in their Sunday best.

Until thinking about it wasn't cutting it anymore and his thoughts moved on to their daughters. He would visit them in their homes and then when their backs were turned, making their sandwiches and tea, he would steal their children off to behind closed doors and get to know them in the godly sense. But then, alas, he was chased away by the very ones that brought him up; swept under the rug for discovering the most divine of divineness.

He melted into the crowd and stayed there, praying on their weak and stupid. Oh, with a few lovely words, he could make them putty in his hands. The feeling of life ebbing out of them as he did his duty. That was true salvation.

He looked in the rearview at the weeping girl and the stirring in his loins felt like it could not be contained. So he hummed a hymn to distract himself. He had been called out West by her weeks ago. In her name, he would do her work but a few distractions may not prove costly, maybe even fruitful.

The red-headed wolf proved a little temperamental with giving them a lift. A rock upside the head and some rope took care of that problem. The girl seemed even more frightened of the shivering vampire than him or even Bats but was now trying to calm the quivering beast. The sun was no problem as the sky was almost black with clouds. Ask and she will provide.

Sunnydale was a few days journey. He could make it as he had no need to eat or sleep anymore but that image in the rearview desperately compelled him to stop at some fleabag motel, kill any curious bystanders, and get to know the girl a bit more intimately.

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Wesley wasn't aware of the time when they reached Los Angeles but he hadn't slept since the hospital room. The scotch was starting to wear off and the amount of time that it took to wake the old watcher had irked him a bit.

There was a car waiting for them, most likely arranged by the council. He recognized the driver at once as Weatherby, one of the Council's Special Ops Team. He must have been in America when the Council was hit. The team had dealt with the more dubious side of Council matters and while it had bothered Wesley in a previous life, he had no trouble with those methods anymore.

He was a bit taken back for a moment as he thought about how jaded he had become so quickly. Men were made in the fire of battle but this battle had left nothing behind for him but a blackened heart and a thirst for revenge. Perhaps when that was complete and it hadn't consumed him completely, he would have the time to heal.

But now, it was time for war.


End file.
